Ladona Kelly, 41 [Updated]

Aug. 2, 2010, 11:02 a.m.

Ladona Kelly, a 41-year-old black woman, died Thursday, July 29, less than an hour after she was shot in the 10000 block of South Figueroa Street in Vermont Vista, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records.

On July 28, Kelly was sitting in a vehicle about 11:30 p.m. when a person walked up and started shooting, said Ed Winter, spokesman for the coroner's office.

Kelly sustained gunshot wounds to the upper chest and upper back, according to coroner's records.

She was taken to a local hospital, where she died at 12:08 a.m., Winter said.

[Updated at 4:30, Aug. 6: LAPD Criminal Gang and Homicide Det. Sean Hansen, who is handling the investigation, said Kelly's male friend, who was in the driver's seat, was also shot during the incident. His injuries were non-life-threatening, Hansen said.

Although there have been no arrests made in connection with the case, witnesses to the shooting described the assailant as a black male.

Hansen said it's unknown if the shooting was gang-related.

Anyone with information about the death of Ladonna Kelly is asked to contact Det. Hansen at (213) 485-4341. Tipsters who wish to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477.]

— Sarah Ardalani

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42 reader comments

Still missing u LaDonna, thnk about u all the time. You showed me Cali huh, we did that!! So real u wuz. My homie. Sit and stare at ur pic all the time. I kno u in Heaven Mami. I wuz there whn u accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as ur Saviour. I kno why now sumthn came over me whn I started to go to that Church dwn the street in Watts on Defiance Ave...God gets all the Glory. Hiz plan wuz perfect. All the sudden u started going to Church, and thn made Diaz & Brandi go. LoL, they wld mad about it. Thn one day in Church u accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as ur Saviour ... yeah, see u up there one day my friend, my time too shall come. Love you & Mourn u alwayz. ETERNAL LIFE LADONA...ETERNAL! ! I miss you sooooooo much!! -Nardo (515) DMI itty bitty citty!

— Nardo Feb. 14, 2013 at 9:11 p.m.

to my beloved friend ladona, who i've known for years !who i've also been trying to find. and this is what i find out!i'm in shock ! i'm soooo hurt !!!!u were the best friend i had on this earth and now she"s gone! why did u have to go so soon? and why did you have to suffer such a violent death! such a beautiful spirit no longer here the one who would be there no matter what !make me smile laugh when i'm down n viceversa! and now your gone!! i know your in heaven ! we fell off some years ago been wanting to say i'm so sorry now i can't! wish i would have found u 2yrs sooner! now i'm 2 yrs too late!!!! my deepest reguards to the kids and and family!!!! and to the sob that killed u karma"s a bitch ...believe that!!!!! u were loved by so many and still are to this day forever in our hearts ! my roll dog my ace my homegirl for life ! i love you and miss you til we meet again ladona, in the heavens my sister my best friend forever and always candace!!!!!!!!

— candace fair July 18, 2012 at 1:07 p.m.

wow.foolz going hard over the net.for sure my prayers to the fanily and friends of this young lady.unlike most of u that have posted ,i live right here.i go to tams.and i know the dangers.dont be ignorant,i dont condone gangbangin,but if you bang you know the consequences.affiliation and association theres a very thin line.far too many deaths of youngsters that did not bang, but they sure hung on the slab with the homies.anybody that consider themselves O.G,NOT A "g"(there is a differance)need to run those wanna be ass fools home.keep it 100.dont be a coward letting fools die for your hood that aint from your hood.but,not to miss my mark,this lady did not deserve to die.and oh for you hardcore internet bangers, i dont bang and took six for a hood,just because of my association so i kno firsthand, and trust gangmembers arent the only ones that go hard in the paint.....

— boondoc saint Sept. 22, 2010 at 3:28 p.m.

yes we need a holy war in the hood..cause i get stopped by police a few times a year i expect that...they run my name..then let me go..they seen my file...its clean they cut me loose and im not a knuckle head so its business as usual . We all know who the active goons are. both the police and the civilians know..and from me getting stopped by the police since the late mid 90s in the hood i say 98% of cops check u out and cut you lose cause they got bigger fish to fry...ive been stopped by jerk cops and got chicken crap tickets(as adam carolla puts it) but in the hood thats not the norm. The police should put the smack down in the hood and ill support them..and the people in the hood need to keep the cops busy ie calling the police on people and drop the "stop snitchin" way of life..cause the goons dont care about you or me, they dont care if youre black or white or brown , they just look out for the fellow goons..im a single dad ..screw the crooks

— 562vert Aug. 17, 2010 at 11:46 p.m.

First off I would like to say rest in peace Ladona Kelly. Second I would like to say to the family of this young lady, that I am praying for your strength, guidance and understanding in this horrific matter and to continue to trust and believe that GOD has your back and justice will be served.
In addition with all due respect to the family and loved ones of Ms. Ladonna Kelly I’d like to inform the readers that I am very familiar with this location, it is very sad and a disgrace to our community. Like 562 stated there are drug users, dealers, basket pushers and prostitutes (half naked not to mention some of them look young enough to still be in High School) all along that area. I personally know of a few people who have lost their lives at that particular location in fact; it’s not a random place to die @G. I wouldn’t stop at that Tams to save my soul, the owners can care less what goes on , around them, for they are surrounded by bars and five inch thick bullet proof glass , not to mention who in their right mind would even eat there its beyond nasty and dirty.
But besides that I think we in the community need to somehow come together and try to stop this MADNESS by demanding that this TAMS be demolished and grass and flowers be planted in this area, so that these people have nowhere to hang out we have realize that this young lady and so many others have lost their lives and family members and loved ones are left suffering because of this foolishness its just not fair. And to those that are posting comments, let’s have some respect @ 1x7HxxVErZ “DENVER LAMES” and @ In The Trenches “1HOE7 SNOOVER” come on your being just as ignorant as the ones that pulled the trigger and you know well what I mean.

— B.O.N.D Aug. 14, 2010 at 2:40 a.m.

I know about "DLB" gang one of my favorite rappers "B Brazy" was from dlb... he got killed in 2003 when he was 28 he was an artist from the banging on wax roster...but yes just like he rapped about figaro ain't no joke..if u listen to his raps and the other Denver lane blood rappers..they love figeruroa and will take out anybody from the outside..I guess the tradtion continues...but I thought the hoovers took tams over...I thought wrong... sycom3's numbers he posted is what I had in mind....I knew it had to be in the hundreds...since the 80s..that's when the big guns came in to south central..before that. It was small time gun play that came in in the mid 1970s... and as for the shootings...thousands. of bullets flew around that area..... like the lottto motto.....who's next..107hxxer. U got lucky that day... I never been shot at yet...even tho I have had guns pointed at me and gang hands signs thrown at me in long beach and south central...

— 562vert Aug. 10, 2010 at 1:30 p.m.

hey "g" this is not random place to die... us folks that live in the hood (me off pch and martin luther king ave in long beach 90806) know that burger stands and liquor stores and GAS STATIONS are indeed danger zones for thugs to run up or drive up on ya and start shooting .. as for my wiki page.. u dont have to read it buddy...i pay attention to everything from the dirty side walks that need a good pressure washing to the beautiful architecture that people seem to ignore in south central. Ive been to these streets for myself and i write what i want to write buddy. i just told you a guy got killed there last year and you saying its random.... look at the maps connect the red dots buddy... go to figaro and ask 44 yrear old walking down the street how many shootings he has seen at tams... cause remember the hr goes back to 07 im not even getting on all the MURDERS pre 07 and the 90s and 80s ,,,, just look at the murder trends at tams 2 murders a year... so go back to 1990 and you i bet you many people have been killed at tams... random my you know what @@G

— 562vert Aug. 6, 2010 at 7:42 p.m.

david colone was killed at tams burgers #6 also 9 21 09 right were ms kelly was killed. tams burgers nice hardy burgers for a good price i constantly drive from long beach to compton , watts, and south central to drive thru the hoods to site see and ive drove by so many candles and balloons since i started my missions to south central.. last sat me and my twin bro were driving by tams on fig and we saw the candles and the balloons and flowers on the ground... we were like there is another one for the homicide report.. and my bro told me yesterday that ms kelly was the un lucky person. ive been to that tams and YOU CAN FEEL THE TENSION ON FIGUERORA ..you order your food and you wait outside like a sitting duck to get ran up on.. people around are constantly looking around at the cars driving by the hookers are everywhere the denver lane blood goons walk around just as the hoover criminal gang boys and ogs..the 40 year old whinoes walk around with a brown paper bag and a beer .... the 10000 block of figaro is certainly hot..just that block im not even talking bout the whole Vermont Vista area of la cause if u factor the whole area over two dozen people has been killed... nice looking 1920s houses overthere... you couldnt even tell its a hell hole if you were driving down denver ave or 109 etc lots of proud home owners who take care of their property..but the 500 blocks up and down and 600 blocks up and down have the majority of the killings... 500 block is the city block tract on the west side of figueroa by the way

— 562vert Aug. 4, 2010 at 10:16 a.m.

The Homicide Report

Ladona Kelly, 41 [Updated]

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