Candlelight Vigil Is Held In Oakwood Monday

Murder victims are remembered, attention demanded

Verna Childress, left, spoke at Monday’s candlelight vigil in Venice’s Oakwood neighborhood about her son’s April 2001 murder, which remains unsolved

Story and photo by
James Allardice
Mirror staff writer

   A small group of residents met in Venice’s Oakwood district for a candlelight vigil, Monday, March 18, to make a public plea for attention.
   Less than a week after LAPD officials, including Chief Bernard Parks, held a press conference at the Vera Davis McClendon Center to announce that two suspects in the October, 2000 murder of Venice activist James Richards had been identified, residents rallied to demand action on numerous other unsolved murders in the neighborhood.
   “This is in no way intended to disrespect the memory of Jim Richards,” resident Laddie Williams said. “Rather it is an attempt to highlight the lack of attention from the police and media given to the recent murders of many of our local youth. We just want the same consideration as everyone else.”
   The Richards murder generated strong public and police response and Venice area residents believe other unsolved murders in their neighborhood deserve the same attention.
   One suspect in the Richards’ murder, Byron Lopez, 23, was arrested in connection with Richards’ death on February 26. Police named a second suspect, Antwon Jones, who was killed in West Los Angeles on April 24, 2001.
   Jones’ mother, Verna Childress, was at last Wednesday’s press conference and Monday’s vigil. She said that the police were “slandering” her son and criticized them for not notifying her of her son’s alleged involvement in the Richard’s murder.
   “I was the last one to find out,” Childress said. “I stumbled on the meeting [Press Conference] last week. I’ve never got a phone call from the LAPD. I’ve never heard from them since my son was killed. He was a good kid… he wasn’t a gangbanger like they [LAPD] said. He wasn’t into that. He was a football player…he was a kid. They [LAPD] don’t feel they need to find answers to cases like my son. They just say another kid from the street’s been killed and don’t investigate. That’s not right.
   “There are many murders in Venice every year … so many of them go unanswered. We have to learn to come together as a community for anything to change. That has to be shown,” Childress said.
   Sheila Smith, another parent whose son was murdered in the Oakwood neighborhood, challenged LAPD to help provide families with closure. “It’s not about color, it’s about closure,” she said. “The police have told me they have caught the person who killed my son. But I’m still not satisfied. We have to care about every individual in this community. And the LAPD needs to do their job. A murder investigation stays open until it’s solved.”
   Following a brief press conference, a group of 30-40 residents walked, candles in hand, east to Lincoln Boulevard and back down California Street to the Center. The vigil was meant to honor the community members who have been murdered over the last few years and organizers hoped it would promote community unity.
   Throughout the walk, individuals remarked that they had not seen any police all night, despite the fact that they had been invited to the vigil. “We walked the streets on which our children were killed to bring value and honor to their memory and closure to their families. It was also a way to promote a strong sense of community unity – black and Latino united for a positive Venice,” Williams said.
   Many community members blame economic discrimination for the disparity in attention given to the murders of black and Latino residents compared with the Richards case. “The lack of media attention to these deaths shows me that Venice’s racial and economic diversity is shown only as a negative and not as the very fabric that holds this community together,” Phyllis Des Verney said. “The Oakwood area is the last area along the coast of Southern California where poor people can live. We have 14 HUD-assisted buildings that have been here for 30 years and serve as the anchor of pride, diversity and safety for this community.”