![]() Many kids join a gang just so somebody has their back. Vasquez says growing up in this part of Compton pretty much guarantees people will mess with you. Since then he's been in and out of prison, just finishing two years on drug and weapons charges. ![]() Doing the math you realize that means he was eight years old when he joined. For the last 20 years he's been a member of Compton Barrio Trace, the gang that runs this particular neighborhood. It might be some little youngster that probably just he's like trying to make a name for himself, let's go hit them.īURBANK: Vasquez knows what he's talking about. Yeah, because you're waiting for somebody to start pulling out a gun or you want to wait for somebody, especially here in Compton, you don't know. ALEX VASQUEZ (Resident, Compton): Yeah, it's a reflex. Really, the only thing that tips you off about his scarier side is a habit he has, one you'll see a lot of if you spend any time in Compton, of jerking his head around reflexively to scope out any car that even starts to come down his street. The 28-year-old with a shaved head wears a wry smile and an oversized hooded sweatshirt as he stands in front of the modest Compton duplex he and his family call home. In the first of two reports, NPR's Luke Burbank looks at some of the reasons why gang life is so entrenched in Compton.Īlex Vasquez actually comes off as a pretty nice guy. Investigators say almost all the killings were gang related. Last year the murder rate jumped by more than 70 percent. Just ten square miles perched on the southeast edge of Los Angeles, Compton is home to some 57 active gangs.ĪDAMS: That are seemingly getting more active. Compton, California is a small city with a big reputation. Crime Stoppers” at 80 or online at .įor the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.This is DAY TO DAY from NPR News. “We have peace in our hearts knowing that they know they were loved and that justice will be served.”Īnyone with information on the case can call LASD at 1-32. ![]() “My uncle and cousin were loved and are loved and will never be forgotten,” said Rashonda Jackson, Stephen’s niece. “We’ve been waiting for over 20 years for this to occur and we hope justice is brought to us,” a family member said of the renewed interest in the cold case. However, detectives believe that modern DNA testing will help them identify at least one suspect involved. Sketches of four suspects and two vehicles involved were released, but so far, no arrests have been made. Members of rival street gangs were clashing at the time and detectives said a day earlier, 22-year-old Richard Lawrence was killed on the 2000 block of North Grape Avenue.Īlthough Stephen and his daughter were not the intended targets, the series of shootings that followed may have been in retaliation for Lawrence’s death, officials said. LASD detectives believe the suspects responsible for their deaths are part of a local Black gang. His loved ones said he was not affiliated with any gangs and was making a visit to his grandmother’s home to show off his daughter when they were struck in the head by stray bullets. Teen recalls getting brutally beaten at L.A. Stephen was a Los Angeles International Airport worker, a student, and was about to be married when he was killed. “This decision was primarily made from advancements in DNA technology that were not available back in 2001.” “In 2019, at the request of family members, both incidents were reviewed by the Homicide Bureau Unsolved Unit and the decision was made to reactivate the cases,” said LASD Lt. “They were just in the wrong place, at the wrong time,” a loved one said during the Friday press conference. Their death was among a series of related shootings that night, spanning several blocks of Compton and Willowbrook. “He was still holding his little girl when he died,” Stephen’s uncle told the Los Angeles Times. ![]() (Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department) Stephen Murphy, 24, and his daughter, Kali Murphy, 2, were killed in the crossfire of gang-related shooting in Compton on Aug.
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