Killing of Homeless Raises Eyebrows

Posted on: November 4, 2008 at 1:53 p.m.

The aftermath of a gruesome violent crime was discovered by the 405 freeway, and everyone from homeless advocates to Los Angeles violent crime attorneys are paying attention. Five people were found shot to death early Sunday in a makeshift homeless encampment covered by thick brush near the 405 Freeway in Long Beach. The crime upset neighbors and puzzled police, who had no suspects and struggled to comb the rugged terrain surrounding the crime scene near the freeway's intersection with the 710 Freeway.

An anonymous caller tipped authorities Sunday morning about a violent slaying in an area near the 1500 block of West Wardlow Road. When Long Beach police arrived, they found two women and three men dead, some with multiple gunshot wounds. Los Angeles criminal defense attorneys have seen various cases of this nature, anonymous crimes where the police have little to go on. It's a shameful situation, and people are often left terrified by the reality of a violent crime.

Once a person is convicted a violent crime, he/she may be punished with:

- imprisonment
- large fines
- community service
- probation
- parole
- court ordered anger management classes

If the defendant has a prior criminal offense on his/her record, or if the defendant used a weapon while committing the crime, he/she may be subject to enhanced criminal charges and sentencing if convicted. Due to the life-altering legal consequences that are involved, it is always in a person

Tagged as: jury trial defense

Comments:

Caitlin Keane on November 7, 2008 at 2:48 p.m. wrote:

Our country has an adversarial legal system; one side versus the other. What bothers me about crimes such as this one is that nobody is left to fight for the deceased. Often times it is extremely difficult to identify homeless people, let alone alert their families of the tragic news. Granted, there are organizations that claim to act in the interest of such victims, yet I have a hard time believing they would fight as hard as the victim or victim's family. As the previous article seems to elevate the importance of murders because the deceased are relatives of a celebrity, this could be an example of the opposite effect. Because the homeless are a demographic that earns little respect from the general public, there may not be as strong of an emotional response to such a heinous crime (even though more people were killed in this instance than in the case of Jennifer Hudson?s family). Another point to this article I found interesting was the focus on ?violent crime.? I could be mistaken, but when five people were shot to death, that sounds more like murder. The connotations of murder and violent crime are very different, with murder being much more severe. The article goes on to mention the possible penalties that may come to one who has committed a violent crime. The worst punishment on the list was prison, while other options included a fine or community service. I would hate to imagine that someone committing such a terrible act such as killing five people would be charged with something as petty as a ?violent crime?. The most disturbing thing to me about this scenario is that there is probably little chance the person responsible will be caught. I can only hope that I am wrong.

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