Two arrested in Halloween killing of 5-year-old Aaron Shannon Jr.
Los Angeles police say two suspects have been arrested for the murder of 5-year-old Aaron Shannon, and are being held without bail. Leonard Hall Jr., 21, was taken into custody today (Friday) about at 2:10 a.m. at an apartment in the 200 block of West. 27th Str. Marcus Denson, 18, was arrested Thursday evening by Sheriff’s deputies in the 1100 block of East 83rd Street. Law enforcement officials say both suspects are active gang members.
Shannon was in his backyard in the 1000 block of East 84th Street at about 2 p.m. on Halloween—showing his uncle and grandfather his Spider-man trick-or-treating costume—when two suspected gang members opened fire from an alley behind the house, wounding him in the head.
He died the following day at a hospital.
Denson and Hall were each being held in lieu of $1 million bail, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department jail records. Denson was arrested Thursday night, and Hall was arrested this morning.
On Tuesday, a reward of up to $75,000 was offered for information leading to the suspected gang members who fatally shot the boy.
"On a day when little kids look forward to dressing up and going out and knocking door-to-door and going to parties to get candy and have some fun, this child was shot in the head by two people,'' said Councilwoman Jan Perry, who proposed the reward.
"It is a horrible, heinous thing that these two people did and all we ask is that anybody who knows anything or saw anything or may have some information, to please call 77th Division (police detectives) and offer your information,'' Perry said.
LAPD homicide Detective Eric Crosson of the LAPD's 77th Street Station, said bullets grazed the grandfather's arm and the uncle's leg, but the boy was shot in the back of the head.
The shooting is linked to a gang rivalry between the Kitchen Crips and Swan Bloods, investigators said. The neighborhood where Aaron lived is an active gang area, but his family had no ties to gangs.
Fox11 reported two Crips members crossed Central Avenue on Sunday looking for Bloods to target when they opened fire on Aaron and his relatives.
"Every homicide angers me, but a 5-year-old on Halloween getting ready, that just tears at my heart,'' LAPD Capt. Dennis Kato of the 77th Street Station told Fox11.
Of the gunmen, Perry said, "This is just wanton, horrid, homicidal people who have no regard for human life that they would shoot people in this manner.''
SOUTH LOS ANGELES, Calif.—An autopsy was pending today on the body of a 5-year-old boy who was shot by two suspected gang members while he showed off his Spider-Man trick-or-treating costume in his yard in South Los Angeles.
The City Council today may also consider offering a reward for information that leads to the two gunmen who killed Aaron Shannon Jr.
Aaron died late Monday at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, 77th Street Station police said.
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Two reputed gang members were charged Friday with the Halloween-day killing of Aaron Shannon Jr., 5, who was shot while showing off his Spider-Man costume in the backyard of his family’s South Los Angeles home.
In addition to murder, Marcus Denson, 18, and Leonard Hall Jr., 21, were each charged with two counts of attempted murder for the Oct. 31 shooting in the 1000 block of East 84th Street. Hall is alleged to have fired the fatal shot, according to prosecutors.
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Two reputed gang members were charged today with the Halloween day killing of a 5-year-old boy who was shot while showing off his Spider-Man costume in the backyard of his family's South Los Angeles home.
In addition to murder, Marcus Denson, 18, and Leonard Hall Jr., 21, were each charged with two counts of attempted murder for the Oct. 31 shooting in the 1000 block of East 84th Street. Hall is alleged to have fired the fatal shot, according to prosecutors.
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—There were two non-fatal shootings in the Los Angeles Police Department's 77th Station area overnight, including one between gang sets, authorities said.
Around 12:30 a.m., at a dance hall at Western Avenue and 89th Street, one victim was grazed in the head and thigh, and shot in the stomach, said Sgt. A. McGee, watch commander at the LAPD's 77th Street Station.
—Nov. 16, approximately 3 p.m., a multi-victim shooting at 84th Place and Normandie Avenue.
Two male victims in their 20s riding together on a mini-bike. As they reach the corner of 84th Place and Normandie Avenue, a suspect (male Black 20-25 years old) fires multiple times, striking one victim in the head and another in the arm. Both victims are transported to a local hospital where the victim with the head wound dies. According to police, both victims are documented members of the Eight Trey Gangsters. The suspect entered a waiting vehicle and fled the scene.
