Killer

Nov 28 2012

Next hearing set for Dec. 18

A man accused of killing three people and injuring two others during a shooting spree last month at a business and home in Downey pleaded not guilty this week to murder and other charges.

Jade Douglas Harris, 30, is being held without bail pending his next appearance in Downey Superior Court on Dec. 18. At that court appearance, a date will be set for a hearing to determine if there is enough evidence to require him to stand trial for the Oct. 24 slayings of Josimar Rojas, Irene Cardenas Reyes and Susana Perez Ruelas.

Feb 16 2011

$50,000

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—A $50,000 reward was announced today for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspect responsible for fatally shooting a man in his back as he crossed a street in South Los Angeles.

Family members and business colleagues attended a news conference at which Councilman Bernard Parks and top police officials investigating the case discussed the shooting Wednesday at 10:40 p.m. of 31-year-old Herbert Eugene Seymour who was walking home from a liquor store near 105th Street and Western Avenue.

Oct 26 2010

May be connected to third slaying

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—A 53-year-old man was charged today with capital murder in the slayings of a Hawthorne couple during a robbery at their home last week.

John Wesley Ewell was scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon at the Airport Branch Courthouse on two counts each of murder and residential robbery, along with the special circumstance allegation of murder during a robbery.

Joseph Wright  |   OW Senior Staff Writer
Jul 8 2010

Grim Sleeper arrest wraps up decade’s-long investigation

After killing 10 Black women and at least one Black man in South Central Los Angeles for almost 25 years,  a man suspected of being the so-called “Grim Sleeper” was arrested yesterday by the Los Angeles Police Department.
 
The Robbery-Homicide Division of the LAPD took 57-year-old Lonnie David Franklin Jr. into custody at his home on 81st Street near Western Avenue. His arrest is the culmination of an investigation that began more than two decades ago.
 

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.

California
San Diego college students and volunteers will carry out their sixth home restoration project on Wednesday, July 10 through Sunday, July 14. as part of the “Healing our Heroes’ Homes” (H3) program created by the nonprofit Embrace. The five-day effort will take place at the home of medically retired Marine Corps Capt. Sarah Bettencourt. Bettencourt served with many different units across the country during the Global War on Terrorism and developed a rare neurological disorder in 2008. With a focus to restore the homes of disabled veteran homeowners, H3 falls in line with Embrace’s mission to mobilize college-student volunteers and community members to serve less fortunate members of civilian and veteran communities. The project for the Bettencourts’ home includes kitchen and bathroom remodeling, building ADA-compliant disability ramps, widening their driveway to ADA standards, widening doorways and landscaping.
 
District of Columbia
The 2013 Smithsonian Folklife Festival will showcase its five-year community research project on African American identity with the program “The Will to Adorn: African American Diversity, Style, and Identity.” This multicity collaboration examines the history and culture of the aesthetics of African Americans. The festival will be held June 26-30 and July 3-7, outdoors on the National Mall between Seventh and 14th streets. “Whether we realize it or not, we are all dress artists. The way we compose our look is a creative expression of our ideas about who we are and who we aspire to be,” said Diana N’Diaye, program curator. “This program explores the diversity of African American traditions of style, but also teaches young people the importance of documenting their own culture and saving that information for themselves and future generations.”