Jamiel Shaw Jr. follow-up…

Updates

• Los Angeles Times, LAPD chief vows to clarify policy on immigrants, April 17

Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton said Wednesday that the department’s controversial policy on dealing with illegal immigrants was widely misunderstood by the public and some of his own officers, and he would clarify the rule in the next couple of weeks. -Los Angeles Times

• Los Angeles Times, Zine wants to amend LAPD policy on immigrants, April 11

• mayorsam.blogspot.com, Jamiel’s Dad talks with Mayor Sam, April 10

• KNBC, 19-year-old pleads not guilty in Jamiel Shaw, Jr. homicide case, April 9

• Houston Chronicle (AP), Alleged gang member pleads not guilty in slaying, April 9

• Los Angeles Times, Explaining Special Order 40 (opinion), April 9

• Los Angeles Times, Ask and deport, family urges, April 9

• cbs2.com, Shaw’s family proposes law to help curb violence (VIDEO), April 8

• FOX News, “Jamiel’s Law” targets illegal immigrant gang members, April 8

• MyFoxla.com, Jamiel Shaw’s parents meet with city leaders, April 8

• Los Angeles Times, Grieving father feels failed by 18-year plan, April 8

• The Daily Collegian (Penn State University) Cities bleed with ‘death by percentages, April 8

• FinalCall.com, Fear of a Black-Brown race war in Los Angeles, April 3

• Independent Weekly (North Carolina), For Eve and Jamiel, and everyone else (commentary), April 2

• mayorsam.blogspot.com, Family of Jamiel Shaw to voice support for “Jamiel’s Law” on Doug McIntyre tomorrow morning (posted April 1) *note: Doug McIntyre is a radio host on KABC (Los Angeles). You can listen to his program here.
• Pedro Espinoza mug shot and booking sheet

• Daily News (Los Angeles), Barbarians are within the gate, March 30:
  

  The latest atrocity was the slaughter of 17-year-old Jamiel Shaw Jr., a star footballer who caught the eye of top college recruiters. Tragically, he also caught the eye of an illegal-alien gangbanger who gunned him down while Jamiel’s mother served in Iraq.

  You can’t make this up. The irony of fighting a war against terrorism half a world away while a generation of Angelenos is shot to pieces by local terrorists, while your own son is cut down at home…. Wow.

• CNN, Dad faces son’s alleged killer; sees ‘normal’ youngster, March 26

• Times Record News (Wichita Falls, Texas), “A horrible waste,” March 25
  

  Jamiel Shaw Jr., a teenager on the verge of living out an American dream, was gunned down by someone who authorities believe had no business still living in America. -Times Record News

• MyFoxLA, Arraigment postponed in Jamiel Shaw case, March 25

• KABC-TV, Man accused of killing teen heads to court, March 25

• Suspect in Jamiel Shaw Jr. murder case may be in US illegally, March 22

If the number of visitors finding this blog after entering “Jamiel Shaw Jr.” into their favorite search engine is any indication, there is a sustained–if not growing–interest in the case of the well-liked teenager.

Having read some of your comments about a perceived lack of national news coverage on this story, the increase in traffic to this site should be encouraging as this story is reaching–and touching–people here and in new content emerging elsewhere on the Web.

I’m writing to let you know this blog hasn’t forgotten about Jamiel Shaw Jr. I continue to search for updates and will post any relevant new information here when I find it.

Although there doesn’t appear to have been any significant development since the arrest of 19-year-old Pedro Espinoza, I can pass along a bit of information that might be new to you.

First off, since its first mention of Espinoza’s arrest, the Los Angeles Police Department’s Web site has published an expanded account of this case.

Secondly, because I’ve yet to see a booking photo or “mug shot” of Espinoza in any media reports, I contacted a representative of the LAPD’s Media Relations Section today. I was told that LAPD doesn’t commonly release mug shots. Exceptions, I was told, include court orders and efforts to locate people no longer in custody.

More on mug shots in a future post…

Certainly it bears mentioning here that police are looking for a second suspect. Anyone with any information about this case can call:

• Wilshire Area Homicide Detectives: (213) 473-0446

• Toll free number for off-hours and weekends: 1-877-LAWFULL (529-3855)

As previously reported, Espinoza was released from jail just 28-hours prior to the murder of Jamiel Shaw Jr. According to a March 12, 2008 article about the arrest in the Los Angeles Times:

“While incarcerated, he (Espinoza) was sentenced Jan. 22 to 180 days in jail with credit for time served, records show.”

According to the LA Times, Espinoza had been in jail since November 18, 2007, serving time for exhibiting a firearm and resisting arrest.

On March 11, less than an hour after the story appeared on the Internet that Espinoza had been arrested for the murder of Jamiel Shaw Jr., I searched the Los Angeles Superior Court Web site’s data base for “Pedro Espinoza.”

Not surprisingly, the fairly common name yielded a lengthy list of cases. Because results from the court’s Web site don’t include dates of birth or other personal identifiers (outside of a case number), it was not possible to determine from these results alone which–if any–results were for the same Pedro Espinoza arrested in the Shaw case.

However, given the convictions related to Espinoza’s November arrest mentioned in the LA Times article and the mention of the January 22 sentencing date in that same article, I do have one result that appears to be for the same Pedro Espinoza.

According to the LAPD’s Web site, Espinoza is now charged with:

-one count of murder
-one count of using a firearm in the commission of a crime
-one count gang enhancement
-one count of being involved in a street gang murder

The arraignment date for Pedro Espinoza remains March 25.