SOUTH LOS ANGELS (KTLA) –Friends and family gathered in Arlington Heights Saturday night for a candlelight vigil on the five-year anniversary of the murder of Jamiel Shaw.
17-year-old Shaw was a standout running back at the time he was killed by convicted gang member Pedro Espinoza.
Espinoza, 23, was sentenced to death in November for the 2008 murder of Shaw, who was shot once in the stomach before being shot again, execution-style, in the head just feet from his front door.
During the trial, prosecutors alleged Shaw was killed by Espinoza for carrying a red Spider-Man backpack.
They said Espinoza, who was a member of the 18th Street Gang, believed the red backpack meant that Shaw was a member of the Rolling 20s, a rival gang.
Doug Kolk reports.
2 Comments to “Vigil Held for Star Football Player Gunned Down”
March 2, 2013 at 8:24 PM
When will the minority peoples learn that a red backpack or a blue shirt does not mean they have to be a part of some gang.Perhaps,it means they simply liked that color because they were just being human? Truly a sad way to have to live for a group of people who are always claiming to be repressed by "the man" yet, they hold themselves back with thinking like this.