Randal Cleaves II, 23 [Updated]

Aug. 16, 2010, 9:10 a.m.

Randal Cleaves II, a 23-year-old black man, was fatally shot Monday, Aug. 9, near the 200 block of East 127th Street in Willowbrook, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records.

Cleaves had just parked his car and was getting out of his vehicle about 10:40 p.m. when he was approached by a person and shot, said Ed Winter, a spokesman for the coroner's office.

Cleaves, shot in the chest, ran into a yard and collapsed, Winter said. Authorities were called and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

According to coroner's records, the alleged shooter fled the area, but was followed by a witness who flagged down police. Winter said records indicate that Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies arrested the suspect. He did not have additional information about the suspect's identity.

The Times has contacted investigators to get more information about the shooting and the suspect, and will provide additional details as soon as they become available.

[Updated Aug. 18: Anthony Darby, an 18-year-old black man, was arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with Cleaves' death, said sheriff's homicide Det. Ken Perry, who is handling the investigation.

Because the case is still under investigation, Perry declined to discuss a possible motive for the killing.

Darby is being held at the North County Correctional Facility in Castaic. His next court appearance is scheduled Aug. 26 in Compton Superior Court.

Anyone with additional information about the case is asked to contact Perry at (323) 890-5500.]

[Update Nov. 18: According to the Los Angeles County district attorney's office, Darby had a preliminary hearing Thursday.]

-- Sarah Ardalani

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41 reader comments

I went to church the other day...it wasn't my church well the church I usually go to this wasn't a church of my religion but I was invited by a co-worker and took her up on her offer. At this church one of the comments that came from the pastor was ..."for true repent to happen one must confess all his sins." As I was reading some of these comments I thought to myself how true! It is easy to say to a new girlfriend or old family that's it I quit. But what about the atonement to those you sinned against? How can true forgiveness come without asking for forgiveness for all sins including those that he does not want to speak of. So no a person cannot stand up in the middle of the living room and say that's it I give up...true atonement comes from getting up in front of your peers and those whose forgiveness is needed.

— Karla Oct. 10, 2013 at 9:07 p.m.

Im at work thinking about my luv because his birthday just passed and I seen all the comments Im super late but I want to say that RANDAL was a great person and I agree where you grew up should not be the reason why you are judged or why you loose your life. Yes maybe randy did somethings in his life that wasnt right but dont we all? My baby was turning his life for the better how I know because he told me so minutes before he lost his life I spoke to randal like 10 min before the shooting happend I spent that whole weekend with him leaving la that sunday and lost him monday night He was a giving person he helped me in ways I cant even explain starting with the violent relationship I was in when we met I love him for being loyal and also for being someone I can trust because if he loved you and cared about you he would never lead you in the wrong direction so you all have a right to have a opinion etc but dont cross the line because at the end of the day you never meant randy a day in your life so all your comments mean nothing to a person who knew him and loved him he was talented he was smart he was funny he was human like you and everyone else and yes my luv is gone but I will never forget him and I was at the funeral also and I feel you cant stop others from doing what they want but you can tell by the way my mother put him away that he was raised the right way and he wasnt what you all are making him out to be he wasnt some nothing ass person he was raised to love and respect he knew what it was like to have something in life he was used to living a good life even through a struggle he was so soft spoken anything I ever needed I swear to god he had me he is the reason I will never stop doing whats best for me he got me on the right track days I felt like giving up he kept me motivated and he made sure I was in the right direction even if he had to pay for it he did not care and Im from Rancho Cucamonga Ca (o and that did not make me better then him I had no issues with where he was from or where he was raised) but neways raised in Los Angeles off and on out of my years of growing up and I loved his ass from the day I first met him at ANTHENS PARK's swimming pool in 2005) until I got that phone call and I got my ass on the freeway to see caution tape on 127th and still in love 3 years after his death my baby was different he wasnt like every other guy he was always his own person he had his own style his own way of thinking he was not the usual no way near it.. So Im forever screaming out I LOVE YOU SLIM THA DON and IMY soo much.. He cant speak for himself anymore but I can and always will if needed bottom line he did not deserve what happend to him so instead of judging learn from it because it can happen to any one of us

— NaeMarie Oct. 10, 2013 at 5:37 a.m.

Wow this is crazy how I was at home one day in I was thinking about randy so I was like I haven't talk to him since he got out of jail in july 2010 so I was trying to find him on Facebook but he his name wasin popin up so I looked him up on Google in in seen that he had past away man I that was my everything we had alot of good times together its sad how I had to find out he past in 2010 I just find out 2013 but I never got a chance to say goodbye but I no you in a better place your gone but will never be forgotten I will away have a place in my heart for you no matter what your still my goon 4life I just cant believe it I tell myself this is not real but much love go out to your family I will be missing you lil webbie song your tatee baybee the name you give me I want never forget them days we had together I got your name tatoo on me they took a real one away r.i.p slim I no your in a better place but I can still remember your face.....

— tatee baybee July 31, 2013 at 5:20 a.m.

As a relative to the deceased i am appalled by the comments left by some. The circumstances of Randy's death arent important, but what is important is that we have LOST a loved one who we will NEVER be able to see again. All we have left is photos and memories. Have respect for the family who you know nothing about nor do you know a thing about Randy,who is called that only by family and should not be addressed as that by some stranger hiding behind a computer.Please keep your 2 cents to yourselves if they are not respectful. Why bring more heartache to a situation that does not pertain to you. You will forget your comments in a short time but they will stick with us forever.Much appreciation for those who kept there comments respectful.

— Sophia Harvard Aug. 29, 2010 at 5:20 p.m.

— sheba .... “Where his son was killed is not an urban area.”

All of the metro LA area is urban.

— sheba .... “ come out of your community and come live around the common folk.”

I have always lived where the common people live. I’m about as common and boring as anyone could find. I’m curious, just what is your definition of “common”?

— sheba .... “For some reason you think murders only happen in the urban areas. Do some real research then get back to me with intelligent talk”

Actually I have. And all the crime stats show that a huge majority of crimes occur in specific neighborhoods with the victims tending to be Latino or Black males between the ages of 17 and 25. Care to debate that fact? In fact, have you ever looked at the homicide map and the statistical data that goes with it?

— sheba .... “tear down the memory of the deceased and the love ones that they have left behind. If that makes you feel better about your self I feel sorry for you.”

I like to remind them that if their loved one was a gangster, then don’t expect any sympathy from me. I will tell them the truth. And maybe that’s something they should have faced up to a long time ago.

— syscom3 Aug. 20, 2010 at 9:13 p.m.

First of all syscom3 I am not desensitve to what is going on in the world. Tell that foolish talk to Bill Cosby. Where his son was killed is not an urban area. Syscom3 Like I said Just becuase you might live in a community where drivebys dont happen, does not mean you know what is going on in the world. Like I said come out of your community and come live around the common folk. instead you hide behind the computer monitor, being a lady coward, talking smack about something you have not lived. I thank God I have never had a family member murdered, my family dont gang bang but we live in a world where others do, that puts you at risk. That puts me at risk, that puts any and everyone at risk. For some reason you think murders only happen in the urban areas. Do some real research then get back to me with intelligent talk, not this psycho bable that you love to do because you think you are better then these families that have suffered on this homicide report. Even Though I dont know these people they have more heart in their baby finger than you do, because they have suffered a great loss yet, they have more compassion then you. A person who sits on their computer and goes throug the homicide report daily to tear down the memory of the deceased and the love ones that they have left behind. If that makes you feel better about your self I feel sorry for you.

— sheba Aug. 20, 2010 at 3:14 p.m.

Not everyone on the HR that is killed is in a gang or affiliated with a gang.Did you know that a gangbanger when he is trying to get initiated into a gang has to go out and kill an innocent person that is not in a gang. The reason for this is said that it is easy to kill your enemy but if you can take out an innocent mother , father , teen, child then you can be trusted. That is how they prove themsleves and then allowed into the gang. I did not know this youngman or his family but nowhere in this report does it say that this was gang related or that he was in a gang it says he had just parked his car at 10:40 and was gunned down. It can happen to any of us God forbid. It happend to Ennis Cosby , Bill Cosby's son in 1997. He was killed by a ukraine gang member while changing his flat tire on the side of the freeway in an upscale area. It can happen at anytime to anyone.

— Sheba Aug. 18, 2010 at 6:47 p.m.

~syscom3, I understand that these "gangsters" don't think because if they did we would not have this HR. I just feel sorry for the family members who have to go through all the trauma associated with the loss of a loved one. Before you say it, I know some of the people killed on this HR are gang members- I am speaking about the FAMILY, and how they feel. What their loved one may or may not have done is something they have to live with but it does not stop them from feeling the loss. When we attend funerals of lost loved one's we never say they were a bad person, we always say good things about them; even if we know the bad things about them. That is how the loved one's of all the lost youth here in the HR feel. I just feel sad that a life is lost so often and it is only getting worse.

— Lady Joker Aug. 18, 2010 at 6:24 a.m.

The Homicide Report

Randal Cleaves II, 23 [Updated]

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