A year later, family looking for answers in shooting death of 14-year-old

More than a year after his 14-year-old cousin was killed, King Sealy, 10, stood near the spot where the teenager collapsed.

King held up a homemade sign with pictures of Elawnza Peebles, who was like a brother to him. Cars passed by and slowed down near West 46th Street and Kansas Avenue, as drivers squinted to see the photos of the teenager, who was gunned down Nov. 9, 2013, as he walked home from playing basketball.

King and his sister, Princess, 7, told their mother they needed to be there when the family gathered in the Vermont Square neighborhood to hand out reward fliers. The two siblings set up a table with candles and candy. On a dry erase board, King sketched a gravestone and wrote his cousin’s name.

In real life, Elawnza still does not have a formal marker.

“It’s just hard to live without him,” King said.

The death had been very difficult for King to comprehend.  After the shooting, Princess would hug her cousin’s obituary and cry. They both had nightmares and needed counseling.

“We haven’t experienced any murders or anything like this,” said Danielle Sealy, their mother. “I can’t even understand the universe, how this happened to that baby. I can’t see why they picked him.”

In the year since the killing, his family has wrestled with why Elawnza was shot.  His mother, Carresha Skiffer, said her son wasn’t even aware of the dangers of the streets.

At 14, Elawnza liked video games, basketball and flaming hot Cheetos. He called his grandmother “Ya-Ya.” According to the Times' Homicide Report, 228 people aged 14 or younger have been killed since 2007. Of those, 35% were shot.

LAPD Det. Eric Crosson said that the Vermont Square neighborhood where Elawnza was killed has a high population of gang members. The lack of retaliation in Elawnza’s killing, Crosson said, is a good indication that he did not have gang ties.

 “I think he was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Crosson said.

Police have few leads. They are looking for a black woman and a black man who may be in their early 20s, who may have left the scene in a white vehicle.

Skiffer said in the past year, she has dealt with her grief by getting out in the community. She’s marched and spoken at events. She did research and decided to get involved with Proposition 47, a recently-passed ballot measure that reduces penalties for certain crimes. The proposition also redirects some funds to victim compensation programs.

“It’s a whole new chapter,” she said.

When she feels low, she prays. She wonders who runs around killing innocent people.

“My shock period is over, now it’s OK, answers and who?” she said. “Now I want something to happen. I want the person responsible to be held responsible.”

Anyone with information is asked to call the LAPD Criminal Gang Homicide Division at (213) 485-4341. Anonymous tippers can call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477.

-- Nicole Santa Cruz

Photo: King Sealy, 10, holds up a sign near where his cousin, Elawnza Peebles, 14, was killed a year ago. Credit: Nicole Santa Cruz, Los Angeles Times