Jensen Gray Killed in Santa Monica Party Stabbing

ryan is a punk, 1st time jensen introduced me to him i knew he was a spoiled little south county rich kid who used people(including jensen) and just basically had a real shitty attitude towards anyone and everything. Jensen was my friend but we drifted apart as the 5 year age difference between us started to seem larger and larger every day. I'm not proud of the fact that drugs were a big part of our friendship, but I met jensen when we were both sober and i spent enough time with him to know he was a good-hearted person who just made some bad choices like myself and many others have done.  With me being older than him I would always try and school him on life and try to get him to see that there was nothing cool about the whole criminal/junky lifestyle he seemed to always try and emulate and get involved in. I didn't like the wanna-be skinhead racist gangter douche guys he started hanging around with and I basically just stop takling his calls when I should have been trying to steer him away from those soul-sucking degenerates.  But in the end it wasnt some skinhead tweaker "convict" guy that he met in prison that did him in, it was his "best friend" from childhood- so dispicable. It doesn't matter what the fight was about or who started it, all I know is ryan stabbed jensen and regardless of how sorry I'm sure he claims to be, the bottom line is that ryan is a selfish little punk who used people just as frequently as he used drugs...and that dude did alot of drugs.  I hope he spends the rest of his life in prison where he can gang-bang and get raped and claim all that O.C. bullshit he wants.  What kind of a person does that to a so-called friend? I just heard about this today so maybe I'm just upset, i don't really know. anyways...FUCK YOU RYAN!!! I hope you meet a new FRIEND in prison and that FRIEND does you just how you did jensen.

To the clueless coke head/junkie in denial..In no way were you in any form Jensen's mother. He had parents.You didn't know Ryan nor did you know Jensen. K girl I'll give you some "street cred" for dating Ryan after every other friend of yours did. Can I call out the only insensitive bitch I've heard most about? Your 6 am rant on facebook about how the first murder in Santa Monica just HAD to be at your apartment "saddest day of MY life" to the "live and die in LA" joke you posted on Jensen's fb following his death..is beyond insensitive..you were another one of the toxic people Jensen didn't need in his life. I can assure you he wouldn't have been a friend for you to claim if you had not been Ryan's little benefactor.

this is ashlin ryan lived with me and we took in jensen the day he got out of county he was practically our child i fed him gave him a place to stay let him read all my books they were both not on drugs. yes drunk but drugs were a rule in  my house (our house) i love them both deeply but ryan feels the worst so any incensitive bitch can fucking bring it and clare you did not date him for 5 years he hated you

Tellin it straight Tim G. I would like to say that is the Jensen that I know. The friend who I can say helped saved my life. The man who although not without his struggles, was a good man. Whether or not people believe it, I think he truly regretted the mistakes he made. One thing I know for a fact is that I knew him only for a very short time but, he helped me turn my life around while around while I had the chance. To follow your example I'm going to tell the few memories I have of this man, and how he saved my life.   I am a 16 years old... with a lets say extensive criminal record and history. I had been 6 months sober and without probation violations thanks to a close friend, but as that friend left I started to slip; drinking, smoking, using, gang banging, the whole thing. My parents moved me to Laguna Beach, while I was wandering around trying to scope out the neighborhood, I met Jensen. The instant I started talking to him I felt like I had just found a long lost friend, he had the same issues as me, and we agreed on alot. I would walk down to the community garden to play spades, rummy etc, and talk about every subject known to mankind. In our discussions he was constantly talking about what he would do different, and telling me to not do it like him. But he was also reading all the time, and one could not get into a talk to him without cracking up. He was genuinely fun to be around. He was always trying to help me. No matter how much money he had, he would lend me as much cash I needed. He would feed me when I couldn't afford food because I had spent all my money. He made sure I never did anything too stupid. Most importantly he drilled it into my head that he regretted the decisions he had made, and I would regret it as well. "Stay in school, be good man. You dont want to end up like me youngster..." I didn't listen first, but after a little while realized he had a point. I started to cut down on smoking, drinking, using, even gangbanging. Now I'm on track to graduate this year, my PO is happy with my file again, and I'm completely sober. Thanks almost entirely to him. One of the last things he said to me went something like this "Being a hard isn't cool, the way we are comes from neccessity, but you have a chance to be different, you don't need all that in a place like this..." I'm proud to say I knew Jensen Gray, who I like to think was a friend of mine. In my own personal opinion he was one of the greatest people I know. Yes he may have hade issues, but I will choose to remember him for the good he did for me and the help he gave others despite having a few of his own troubles, and the good that he had inside. He will forever be in my thoughts in my prayers and I will most definitely be forever thankful for his influence.

Wow ! Real talk..

I will ignore the childish banter on here and post my memories of Jensen. Jensen was my first and really only stable friend in high school. I remember when we met, arguing about something silly in PE class with coach Todd. Somehow, after school that day, we ended up back at his house, which happened to be less than a block from mine. Pretty much instantly I had a best friend. For a couple years I saw him on a daily basis in and outside of school. At least in high school, I always kind of looked up to him, as he always seemed confident and had a way with people. My sister and parents even got to know him well, as he was a frequent figure in our house. He was also generally respectful and would always talk to my parents when they were around. While the amount of time we spent together led to way too many memories to recount here, I will try to describe a few of them, and hopefully paint a picture of the Jensen Gray I knew. Whenever we were hanging out on weekdays, he always had to be home by a certain time (around 4pm I think) to watch Dragon Ball Z on TV. He introduced me to skimboarding, and I remember spending many days at the beach with him. One day he came up with the brilliant idea that we buy surfboards... 24 hours later we both had these tiny surfboards fit for small, expert surfers, and we were trying to learn how to surf almost in a shore break. I guess we thought it would be easy. I remember he went to eat Indian for his first time food with my family, and he was practically poking the food with a long stick wondering what the heck it was. We made many trips to Underdog Records downtown and spent plenty of time sitting around listening to our purchases. Of course, like any high school kids, we did our fair share of rebellious things. I remember when we convinced an older neighbor to buy us beer on the weekend, and we loaded up our backpacks and went into the hiking trails behind the house. We were hiding out drinking beers thinking we were so cool, when we heard someone coming up the trail. We started frantically trying to bury the beers to hide the evidence. Finally the guy came up to our spot and Jensen, always thinking quickly, said "Do you know how far this trail goes on for?" The guy said no and he continued on his way.  Aside from small mischief like the scene above, Jensen was generally a good person when I knew him. He even called me up one day to ask me if I had lost a $20 bill at his house because he found money on the floor in his room and knew I had been over there earlier. Even with people he didn't like or that didn't like him, I could never picture him doing more harm to them than words.  I don't think anyone will deny that he was intelligent and witty. While his personality may have come off as abrasive at first to some, once you got to know him, you quickly realized he was a really nice guy. Every time I was around him I got a serious abdominal workout from all the laughing. He turned almost every situation into something funny. No matter what was going on, he always had a comment about it that made everyone laugh. This is the Jensen I remember. After high school, he unfortunately started down a bad path, and I purposefully distanced myself from him. I'm sure the details will unfold in the coming days and weeks, and the public will be made aware that he had some troubles with drugs in the years before his death. However, I feel strongly that although he had his troubles, he was generally NOT an amoral sociopath and most likely did more harm to himself and inadvertently those who loved him than he did purposefully or knowingly to anyone else. I hope that in reading this, people might realize that Jensen Gray is not just a random man from Laguna Beach with a criminal history, but a really a young man with a family who was a friend to a lot of people. I knew him, my parents knew him, my wife knew him, my sister knew him, my sister in law knew him, as did countless others. He made some bad decisions and got mixed up in the wrong crowd, but I believe his was still a decent person and certainly did not deserve an end like this.  This story hits me particularly hard I was recently contemplating contacting him on my upcoming trip to California in August just to talk and catch up on old times. I didn't have any expectations other than to relive some high school memories and be made to laugh until I was out of breath like every time we were together in and after high school. This reunion of high school friends is no longer possible.-Tim

he lived with his girlfriend ashlin (who's in the pic with them). i don't know who paid for it, possibly her parents.

Well, the autopsy will tell.  Last time I talked to Jensen, he claimed to clean, and I encouraged him to stay clean.  But I also know that Jensen and Ryan together was not a combination that encouraged sobriety.  I view them both as victims of their own weaknesses.  Death by drug use isn't always by overdose.  Also, if that apartment was Ryan's apartment, you need to ask yourself exactly how he was able to afford that apartment, since I don't think he had a job.

Disregard typos. I'm on my phone. Still in shock over finding out. I'm curious who this person that dated Jensen for five years is? Cause I know that's b.s because I was with him almost every day during 2008 and the end of 2007. So yeah if you are who I think you are you you need to go away Cause he used you like no bodies business

Yes they were. Best friends. I knew them both. I may not be the person who was always around. But trust me that I knew Jensen Better then any one. We were close and I distanced myself to get away from his life style cause I made the decision to move on I stilled talk to him on occasion and Ryan and Jensen were both still using. Contrary to popular belief. However and I can't say this enough I can pretty much determine what drug they were on based on what happened. If you can't then you're stupid. Plain and simple.

I know for a fact that they weren't messing around with dope and they were friends long before the drugs. I wouldn't wish this on anyone not even you. Stop hiding behind the anonymity of the internet to try and hurt people that are are already hurt, you obviously have your own issues, but that is no excuse. You are the worst type of person.

It was Jenson who got stabbed to death by his best friend.

If you dated J for 5 years, then you know that I know what I'm talking about.  You really think if J and R weren't messing around with heroin that this would have happened?  Or that they would even be friends?

Fuck your idiot smoking comment! And your idiot heroin comment too! I dated the victim for five years and the worthless idiot piece of shit that stabbed him was his best friend!

Don't play with heroin, kiddies!  One way or another, you'll end up dead or in jail!

Saw the same comment on LAist. It's not that funny.