South Bureau Homicide Page #3

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and do certain things

that will get themselves

into more trouble?

And no gang accepts a

guy killin' a girl over

somethin' stupid, you know,

it was an argument, it was...

- That was not business.

You know, gangs are

about business too.

I agree.

It's about money.

I agree.

Look, let's identify

who this person is,

and then Myra and I will

do our job to try to remove

the family members

as much as possible.

We have other techniques.

The longer we wait...

The longer, I know,

48 Hours taught me that.

- Thank you.

It will be a distant memory,

your cousin will be

a distant memory.

I know.

I don't want that,

that's not fair.

I agree.

This family hasn't

been back to the house

since the night of the incident.

Every time she went up

and down the stairs,

'cause that's where

she held her daughter.

I feel really bad.

Ah yeah, you know

it took everything for me

not to cry.

You and I are weak

like that, you know that?

- You feel horrible for 'em.

You know, 'cause it's reality,

it's not tv, it's not,

this is real, real

people's lives.

This takes a toll.

About midnight,

got called by the

southeast watch commander

that we had a homicide here

on 95th Street by 95th and Fig.

Female, black, was shot

and killed as she was

walking on the sidewalk.

Was probably a group of

other individuals out,

when a light-colored

sedan or SUV drove by,

depending on the

witness's statement,

shot multiple times, she

got struck by gunfire.

Latorria, L-A-T-O-R-R-I-A.

Patrol units respond,

paramedics respond,

they pronounced her

deceased here at the scene,

so by the time I get here,

the scene's already secured.

Had some idea where some

pieces of evidence were.

Had some fired casings,

had some cell phones

that probably belonged to our

victim, after she got shot.

Couple a ice tea cans, and

one was still half full.

That would indicate there

was more people out here.

So it's that type a stuff

that we're just kinda

processing the crime scene.

There was a van,

obviously, close by.

Did you find

somethin' else in it?

- Yeah, perfectly intact bullet.

Oh there it is, right

there in the window, yeah.

Very nice.

I have measurements,

if you wanna go off

the measurements I have.

Okay, and I'm gonna

get the light closed.

I have the light closed,

I have this light closed,

and that light closed.

Almost like you've

done this before.

Never done it before

in my life, really.

First time out

here, solid, shew.

Mel Hernandez and I will be

personally assigned to this case

until we leave.

I don't plan on leavin',

I plan on retiring

from this division.

In that case, it'd be

assigned to me until I retire.

We form a bond with that family,

and we know the

investigation best

because we were the

first homicide detectives

who got a look at

the crime scene,

who talked to the people who

were involved that night,

to the community members.

So as a result, you have

some personal attachment to

the homicides that

are assigned to you.

My only child was murdered,

Reginald Lakeith Reese,

December the sixth,

1995, in San Pedro.

To have your kid

leave before you,

at the hands of someone else,

that they have touched your kid.

It's like your brain's

suppose to be in a circle

but when that happens it leaves

a little dent in your brain

that will never, ever close.

You take this to your grave.

You will never,

ever get over it.

You will do anything,

move the world,

that havin' them, never bein'

able to smell 'em again,

never bein' able

to kiss, don't hug,

you don't get none

a that no more.

And everybody tell you

it's suppose to be okay,

that's bull, it don't

suppose to be okay.

Because a the way it

suppose to been okay

was you suppose to been left,

and they suppose to a been here.

This is not right.

All these kids bein' murdered,

and everybody's

tellin' us it's okay.

No, uh-uh, parents

never get over it.

They will take it

to their grave.

Never, ever.

Birthdays, worst.

Anniversary dates,

that's what we call,

when the day they were murdered,

it's like a knife in your heart,

you can't even pull

out if you wanted to.

And make it right.

It's like, I can't explain it.

But you don't want nobody

else to ever experience it.

Because you don't know if

they gonna get through it.

A lot a people don't.

They lose they mind behind this,

we've had parents kill

theyself behind it,

tryin' to get to they babies.

And it's just horrible,

it's nothing like this.

There's no medication

they can give you,

'cause they give you somethin',

they gonna put you to sleep.

And that ain't gonna solve it,

'cause when you wake up you

think, "Where's my child,

"where's my kid?"

And you look in the room,

you grabbin' the clothes,

you're asking everybody,

so it doesn't work that way.

Our spiritual leaders seem,

they don't understand it either,

'cause they ask us

strange questions,

like, "Did your

child, was he saved?"

Or somethin' like that, like

that makes a difference.

When it comes to this,

it is not about that.

This crosses every boundary.

It doesn't care what

religion, what race, what age,

if you were short,

you were tall,

if you had money, you didn't,

this crosses everything.

And they need to

understand this.

There's nothin' worse.

Anything else in this world

you get a second chance.

On this, we don't get nothin'.

We never get to see 'em again,

we never get to say nothin'.

Everybody else gets a second

chance, we didn't get it.

It's the worst thing,

it's so unfair.

And we demand it, that those

son of b*tches that kill

our kids, they have to be arrested,

charged, and convicted,

'cause this is the

worst crime of all.

No, there's nothin' worse

than murder, there's nothing.

No, uh-uh.

Give me a minute, please.

Hello my name

is,

could someone

please call be back,

I'm desperately in need of help.

My 16-month-old

child was murdered,

and I don't know what to do,

I'm not getting anywhere

with the police, or anything.

So someone please call me

back, thank you very much.

Paul, this is LaWanda with

Justice for Murdered Children,

I'm returning your call.

I am truly sorry to hear

about your 16-month-old

bein' murdered, my heart

and prayers go out to you

and your family.

We're a non-profit organization

that helps families

that have had a

loved one murdered.

Our mission is to assist them,

and to reduce the numbers

of unsolved homicides.

We felt we were left out

the criminal justice system.

Hi Janet, this is

LaWanda, how you doin'?

I'm doin' fine.

I was calling you because LAPD

is doing an unsolved homicide

website, so they need for you

to give them Tony's picture.

Yeah, yeah.

Hi LaChrisha, this is

LaWanda, how you doin'?

I'm doin' fine.

Hey William, this is

LaWanda, how you doin'?

Hey Rose, this is LaWanda,

with Justice for

Murdered Children.

Oh, okay, I'll get

the email to you.

People usually think

once we bury the kids,

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