L.A. prosecutors have charged a teen tagger accused of killing a gang interventionist as an adult.
Mark Anthony Villasenor, 16, is accused of fatally shooting 40-year-old Ronald Barron, who confronted Villasenor for tagging a wall in the Mid-City area.
Barron was leaving a bar with
his girlfriend when he noticed a tagger defacing a wall on Pico Boulevard.
The Los Angeles Police Department said surveillance video from nearby
businesses captured the Feb. 6 killing in the 5000 block of West Pico
Boulevard.
The footage appeared to
show a gunman wearing dark-colored clothing arguing with Barron in
front of "numerous witnesses," LAPD detectives said.
His slaying stunned colleagues at Amer-I-Can, where Barron had worked for more than a decade.
The loss was also felt at City Hall and LAPD headquarters, where
officials rely on gang interventionists like Barron to help reduce the
grip of gangs in some neighborhoods.
— Shelby Grad