| “ | We don't live in a world where you get to kill people and decide how to make up for it. | ” |
— Brenda Leigh Johnson | ||
The Priority Homicide Division join Provenza on a walk down memory lane when his card is found on a gang member killed and buried 15 years earlier.
The Victim[]
- Darrell Richards, gang member
The Suspects[]
- Terry Miller, former gang member now using a wheelchair
- Father Jack, Franciscan priest
- Kenyon Richards, the victim's brother
Evidence[]
Closing the Case[]
Brenda's Story[]
Guest Cast[]
Locations[]
Episode Notes[]
The context for the events leading to Durrell's death include the 1992 LA Riots. In the late afternoon of April 29, 1992, the verdict in the trial of four LAPD officers accused of beating Rodney King were read in the conservative community of Sylmar, California: three of the four officers were cleared of all charges. The verdicts were broadcast live, and rioting broke out in several parts of the city, however, the flashpoint is considered the corner of Florence and Normandy in South Los Angeles, where trucker Reginald Denny was dragged from his vehicle and severely beaten.
Over the next three days, Los Angeles watched 24 hour news coverage as businesses were looted and burned. The city finally returned to the beginnings of normality on May 4, but the damage was the staggering: over 50 people dead and $1 billion in property damage. As this episode shows, the repercussions of the riots are still being felt over ten years later.
This episode carries a warning that the story is fictional, and not based on any real person or event.
This is probably because the character Father Jack appears to be loosely based on Father Gregory S. Boyle, S.J. Director of Homeboy Industries, an economic development program designed to give Latino gang members a second chance and an alternative to gang activity. Homeboy Industries operates in Boyle Heights (part of LAPD's Hollenbeck Division), 15 square miles with 34 gangs, the highest concentration of gangs in the city. Projects include a bakery/cafe, a landscape and maintenance company, and a silkscreen shop that sells a range of merchandise.
Associated with Homeboy Industries is Jobs for a Future, an employment development service. Like Father Jack, Father Gregory is actively involved in the City of Los Angeles' anti-crime initiatives. Although widely widely respected in the city, occasional questions have arisen about the sheltering of gang members who have committed major crimes, as seen in the CNN Presents feature Homicide in Hollenbeck.
Trivia[]
Subtle product placement: the ringtone on Brenda's phone is clearly identifiable as T-Mobile's signature tone, heard in all its advertisements.