David Maghamifar, CSULB Grad From Italy, Dies When Car Flies off Pier at L.A. Harbor

Categories: Crash, Death

david maghamifar.jpg
David Maghamifar via Facebook
The 25-year-old whose car flew off Pier 300 at Los Angeles Harbor on Saturday afternoon has been identified as David Maghamifar.

A Facebook profile that appears to belong to the victim says he grew up in Genova, Italy -- attending high school at Liceo Classico Emiliani -- before moving to SoCal for college. Maghamifar says he graduated from Cal State Long Beach in 2010.

According to weekend news reports, witnesses at the Harbor saw his car...

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Otto Jensen, Legendary 101-Year-Old Burbank Photographer, Killed While Crossing Street

Categories: Arts News, Death

otto jensen burbank.jpg
ESNEWS
The great Otto Jensen.
Updated on Page 2: Jensen, a former Danish boxer, meets Manny Pacquiao.

A living piece of Burbank history was killed while crossing Olive Avenue around 8:15 p.m. last night.

Otto Jensen, who was still running his nearby photography studio at the ripe age of 101 years old, has shot everything from family portraits to boxing and Hollywood greats during his long and storied career. Jensen's studio, a staple on Olive, has been open since 1952.

In a video interview with ESNEWS last year, he said he smoked two cigars a day...

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Chris Schwartz, 'Pro Street Luger' From Agoura Hills, Killed When Skateboard Hits Parked Car

Categories: Death

chris schwartz.jpg
Chris Schwartz via MySpace
A young Agoura Hills daredevil who listed himself online as a "professional street luger" and "inline speed skater" died just after midnight this morning in a tragic skateboarding accident.

City News Service reports that Christopher Schwartz, 29, was not wearing a helmet when he took his Dirtsurfer skateboard for a run down "a steep residential street" near the Lake Lindero Country Club. Schwartz died at the scene from head and neck injuries...

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The Curse of Beer & Wine Market in Hawaiian Gardens: Dead Owner Found Gagged in Freezer

Categories: Crime, Death

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CBS2
Beer & Wine Market is tucked into a Hawaiian Gardens strip mall.
The owner of Beer & Wine Market in Hawaiian Gardens was found bound and gagged in his own liquor-store freezer yesterday, reports CBS2. And according to the Los Angeles Times, this isn't the first time an owner has turned up dead.

A customer reportedly called the L.A. County Sheriff after wandering into the store Monday afternoon and finding no one there. The market was open, but all its lights were turned off.

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Big Willie Andew, Drag Race Legend Who Sparked Fast & Furious Culture, Dead at 70

Categories: Death

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ethelkilledfred
Big Willie and ex-Mayor Richard Riordan.
William "Big Willie" Andrew, who tried to get kids off the streets and keep them out of gangs by organizing drag races on Terminal Island, died over the weekend.

The 70-year-old had been in poor health, reports bangshift.com.

Instead of claiming turf, he told young people they should "run what you brung" on the track. And some credit him for creating the import-racing environment that sparked the Fast and the Furious tuner-car explosion of the 1990s:


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Katie Wilkins, Malibu 25-Year-Old, May Have Overdosed on Heroin With Chris Benton, Pepperdine President's Son

Categories: Death, Drugs

katie wilkins.jpg
Katie Wilkins via Facebook
Wilkins' brother suspects foul play.
Updated on Page 2: We speak with sheriff's detectives about Benton's role in all of this.

Originally posted at 10 a.m.

The young graphic designer found dead in her parents' Malibu mansion on the evening of Saturday, April 28, may have overdosed on heroin, L.A. County Sheriff's investigators tell the Los Angeles Times. Katie Wilkins, 25, was discovered by her brother in their parents hilltop mansion, a load of laundry in the washer and a meal prepared. Her BMW was also missing, leading detectives to believe someone had fled the scene.

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Frankie Velasquez, Boyle Heights 20-Year-Old, Murdered While Walking to Liquor Store With Cousin

Categories: Crime, Death

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@kimbohhh via Twitter
"RIP Frankie you will never be forgotten"
LAPD detectives at the Hollenbeck Station have had no luck tracking down the shooter in a May 5 murder that downed 20-year-old Boyle Heights resident Frankie Valesquez.

"He was walking to the liquor store with his cousin," says Detective Stephanie Carrillo. She says "it's unknown at this time" whether the shooting was gang-related.

Twitter exchanges between Velasquez' friends and family...

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Guillermo Pino, Missing Anza-Borrego Hiker, Found Dead in 60-Foot Crevice; L.A. Sheriff's Detail Helps Pull Him Out

Categories: Death

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Facebook
Pino was stuck at the bottom of Hidden Cave for an entire month.
After a long, frantic month of combing hundreds of caves throughout Anza-Borrego Desert State Park for any signs of missing UC San Diego graduate Guillermo Pino, Jr., 25, he was discovered dead last Saturday at the bottom of a 60-foot crevice.

Pino had gone hiking on Easter Sunday with a group of friends. They last saw him in the park's storied Arroyo Tapiado mud caves, according to the Facebook page "Find Guillermo Pino Jr." And it was in the deepest of those caves, a dark and winding crevice known as "Hidden Cave"...

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Junior Seau Dead of Self-Inflicted Gunshot Wound in Oceanside

Categories: Death

junior seau.JPG
Updated at the bottom with the San Diego County coroner confirming suicide as the cause of death. First posted at 12:27 p.m. Wednesday.

Junior Seau, the hometown hero and onetime USC player who became a star linebacker for the San Diego Chargers, died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound this morning, according to reports.

Police in his hometown of Oceanside, where he played high school ball, said they received a report of his demise about 10 a.m.

The Chargers released this statement:

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ICE Agent Myron Chisem Shot at Home in Carson; 14-Year-Old Son Arrested for Murder

Categories: Crime, Death

ice agent carson.jpg
CBS LA
Sheriff's investigators at the scene.
Update: Headline has been changed to include the victim's name, Myron Chisem, as provided to the Associated Press by his "friend," Shawn Butler. The same friend tells KPCC that the suspected shooter "was a very nice boy and he has always been. Quiet, no problems. And Myron loved him to death."

On the same night that three Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents were shot on the job in NorCal -- and about a month after a fatal shootout between agents at the Long Beach federal courthouse -- another ICE agent died just after 9 p.m. on Thursday while sitting in his home in Carson.

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Jamiel Shaw, L.A. Football Star, Murdered Over His Spider-Man Backpack, Says D.A.; Shaw's Gang Affiliation Won't Factor Into Trial

Categories: Crime, Death

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Jamiel Shaw was a rising star at Los Angeles High.
The trial for Pedro Espinoza, illegal immigrant accused of murdering 17-year-old footballer Jamiel Shaw Jr. in March 2008, finally got underway today.

It's been highly politicized thus far -- delayed by raging controversies over Espinoza's undocumented status, Shaw's own gang affiliation and whether either of those factors should affect the verdict.

But today's opening statements...

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Katie Wilkins, 25-Year-Old Graphic Designer, Found Dead in Malibu Garage; BMW Missing

Categories: Death

katie wilkins.jpg
Katie Wilkins via Facebook
Update: "Katie Wilkins May Have Overdosed on Heroin With Chris Benton, Pepperdine President's Son."

A young graphic designer described by her father as "well-liked" was found dead in the garage of her parents' house, where she was apparently staying, on Saturday night.

The body of Katherine Jessie Wilkins (or Katie Wilkins), 25, was reportedly discovered by her brother Steve. But strangely, when he came across her body, the victim's silver BMW had vanished.

"Somebody stole her car..."

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Michael Cormier, Forensic Technician for L.A. County Coroner, Dies Under 'Suspicious Circumstances'

Categories: Coroner, Death

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mrcanacorn.wordpress.com
The L.A. County Department of Coroner is a crazy place. Employees at the old, haunted-house-looking office -- including sentence-servers like Lindsay Lohan -- see a flurry of celebrity overdoses and true-Hollywood murders come through, alongside countless casualties of this brutal gangland.

And the story just got stranger: Michael A. Cormier, a forensic technician and an integral character at the Coroner's Office, recently turned up dead at his home in North Hollywood.

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Dick Clark Dies at 82

Categories: Death

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Dick and Ryan.
See updates and details at the bottom.

Dick Clark, who brought pop music to television with American Bandstand and New Year's Rockin' Eve, has died.

ABC Eyewitness News, TMZ and other outlets are reporting he succumbed to a "massive heart attack."

The final ball has dropped:

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Hiram Medina, 'Tattoo Artist' From Van Nuys, Dies in Fiery Crash With 405 Center Divide

Categories: Crash, Death

405 crash medina.jpg
NBC LA
The wreckage.
An SUV reportedly exploded yesterday night after smashing into a center divider (as well as the post holding up an overpass) on the 405 freeway.

The driver has since been identified as 27-year-old Hiram Medina of Van Nuys, reports NBC LA. And commenters at the LA Daily News say he was a "tattoo artist" with a small son.

Medina was apparently driving a white-and-yellow Chevy Blazer on the 405 South...

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Christiane Lange, Clark Gable Jr.'s Girlfriend and Celebrity Makeup Artist, Found Dead in Malibu Mansion

Categories: Celebrities, Death

christiane lange.jpg
Christiane Lange via Twitter
Updated at the bottom with more on the glamorous Lange.

Originally posted April 11 at 5:35 p.m.

Clark Gable Jr.'s live-in girlfriend died mysteriously this morning at the couple's mansion in Malibu. (Yes, Clark Gable Jr., the son of the Hollywood legend. No, not Clark Gable III, the grandson of the Hollywood legend, arrested last summer for pointing a laser at an LAPD helicopter.)

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USC Murder: Chinese Graduate Students May Have Been Shot, Killed for Their BMW

Categories: Crime, Death

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ABC7
Did a car thief in West Adams try to jack this BMW?
Update: "Ying Wu and Ming Qu, USC Grad Students From China, Identified as Shooting Victims."

A man and a woman murdered in their BMW near the USC campus this morning were graduate students from China, according to the LAPD. They are both thought to have been in their 20s.

Cops found the students suffering from multiple gunshot wounds around 1 a.m., near the intersection of Raymond Avenue and West 27th Street. According to City News Service, the woman was slumped in the passenger seat, while the man...

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Etsael 'Tito' Cardenas, 21-Year-Old Echo Park Resident, Shot Dead While Reportedly Listening to Music in His Car

Categories: Crime, Death

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Tito Cardenas via Facebook
The victim.
LAPD detectives are stumped as to why 21-year-old Etsael Cardenas, Jr. -- an Echo Park resident who went by "Tito" -- was murdered in his car early Sunday morning, while parked on West Kensington Road near Echo Park Terrace.

His friends and family, too, were stunned by the shooting. They told KCAL9 that Cardenas was just listening to music in his car around 1:40 a.m., like he often does, when they heard gunshots outside.

Worried, his father went to check on him 20 minutes later...

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Connor Penhall, 21-Year-Old Caltrans Worker and Son of Racer/Actor Bruce Penhall, Killed by Alleged Drunk Driver

Categories: Crash, Death

connor penhall dead.jpg
@connorpenhall via Twitter
Bruce Penhall's young son died while working on the 10 last night.
Updated after the jump: Caltrans responds, and the ghost of Penhall expresses unhappiness with his job.

Originally posted at 8:30 a.m.

The victim of a late-night crash on the 10 West has been identified as 21-year-old Connor Penhall, a Caltrans subcontractor and the son of racer-turned-actor Bruce Penhall.

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Inglewood Hero: Fred Martin Dies After Taking Bullet for His 8-Year-Old Son

Categories: Crime, Death

fred martin shooting.jpg
Fred Martin via Facebook
The victim, left.
As the sun went down on Tuesday evening, a young father died in a heroic effort to save his 8-year-old son from street gunfire.

Fredrick Martin, 28, was shot twice in the chest and stomach after pushing his son to the ground at the last second -- ultimately saving the kid's life.

The 7 p.m. shooting in the 3200 block of West 109th Street...

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