by James Cohen
On East 84th St near South Central Ave, Aaron Shannon Jr, 5 years old, shows off his new Spider-Man costume at a family gathering in his grandfather's backyard before they head out to an LAPD-hosted Halloween carnival.
They won't make it.
William, Aaron's grandfather, spots two men walking down the alley just outside his chainlink fence. He nods a greeting which they ignore as they pass out of view. William tells Aaron to go get his jacket and the boy starts inside. Seconds later they hear "small explosions" and one of the men allegedly runs back into view and opens fire through the fence.
William's grandfather is struck in the wrist and runs inside to find his grandson in a pool of blood, having been shot through the back of his head. He's pronounced dead the next night.
The police received significant support from the community and reportedly even other gang members, and made two arrests days later.
Two years later I can't find any updates. Court proceedings can take years so presumably trials are still pending.
