This week's featured reader comments

Acquaintances of homicide victims sometimes offer interesting perspectives in the comments section of the Homicide Report. This week brings two such comments.

Chris played football for me at Compton High School. He was far from an exceptional player, in fact --he just wanted to be a part of something. His yearning to be a part of something led him to trouble at times. Yet Chris, had a great personality and a kind demeanor. He tried to point his life compass in the right direction by joining the military. His brother and sister were always involved in volunteering with the football team, my broken heart goes out to them.

Yaotl Sr's comment about Miguel Angel Rodriguez, 21, who was stabbed to death in Pacoima this month, is in a similar vein.

Our prayers on behalf of the Orozco family. He was a music collaborator with my son. This is so sad to hear. He was a polite and kind young man. Oddly, my son states that he would always speak about death to all of his friends. Its as if he knew he would die young...

This week, I'd also like to take a moment to mention the tone of comments. Every comment submitted to the Homicide Report is reviewed by a Los Angeles Times staff member. Sometimes a very thoughtful, heartfelt comment will be blocked because it contains profanity or a threat. We do not publish comments with threats or curse words. We want to foster a lively and civil discussion, with the understanding that this is an emotionally difficult subject. The Times' Ken Schwencke posted a longer note about comments in 2010; it's still worth reading, as is our official commenting policy.

Please know that we appreciate what you contribute to the Homicide Report and take your comments seriously. We want as many as possible to be published — and perhaps featured in a post like this one.

— Matt Ballinger