Troy Green Jr., 23

Troy Green Jr., 23, a black man, was shot and killed at the intersection of 75th Street and Parmelee Avenue in an unincorporated area of Los Angeles County near Florence about 9:50 p.m. Saturday, April 26.

Someone found Green's body on the street and called 911. According to L.A. County Sheriff's Det. Robert Harris, a Latino man walked up to Green, who was on foot, shot him, then fled.

Green was homeless and had recently moved from Clearwater, Fla., where he had a partner and child. He was a paranoid schizophrenic whose symptoms had surfaced only a few years before, Harris said. But with the onset of his illness, he had begun to wander.

His family begged him to come home. Instead, he made his way to Los Angeles with a companion for unknown reasons, arriving here in February.

Green's slaying is typical of many who are mentally ill. Living on the streets, or in group homes, they are exceptionally vulnerable to homicide. Exposed to some of society's most dangerous people, they have little means of protecting themselves, and their erratic behavior sometimes provokes violent responses -- something which may have occurred in Green's case, Harris said.

Harris described Green's family as devastated. Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriff's homicide bureau at (323)890-5500.

Photo: Green's partner and child.

--Jill Leovy/LAT