Killing of Latasha Harlins

Latasha Harlins (1976 – March 16, 1991) was a 15 year-old African-American girl who was shot and killed on March 16, 1991 by Soon Ja Du, a 51 year-old Korean store owner. Harlins was a student at Westchester High School in Los Angeles, California. Because Harlins' death came just thirteen days after the videotaped beating of Rodney King and Du was only imposed with a probation, a fine and community service for her action, some sources cited the shooting as one of the causes of the 1992 Los Angeles riots. In 1994, Rapper 2Pac released a song entitled "Keep Ya Head Up" which was dedicated to Latasha Harlins. Tupac mentioned Harlins in his songs, on tracks like "Thugz Mansion" ("Little Latasha, she's grown/ Tell the lady in the liquor store that she’s forgiven/ So come home") and "Hellrazor" ("Dear Lord if ya hear me, tell me why/ Little girl like LaTasha, had to die/").

Summary

The following paragraphs summarizes the transcript of court case, People v. Superior Court of Los Angeles County. The South Los Angeles store, Empire Liquor was normally staffed by Du's husband and son. However, on the morning of the shooting, Du was working behind the counter, and her husband was outside resting in the family's van.

Du saw Harlins putting a bottle of orange juice in her backpack. Du erroneously concluded that Harlins was attempting to steal, because she evidently did not see the money in Harlins' hand. Du attempted to grab Harlins by the sweater and snatched her backpack. Harlins then struck Du with her fist three times, knocking Du to the ground. After Harlins backed away Du then threw a stool at her. Harlins then picked up the orange juice that dropped during the scuffle put it on the counter and turned to leave. Du reached under the counter to retrieve a handgun. Du then fired at Harlins from behind and shot her in the back of her head, then fainted. Du's husband, Billy Heung Ki Du, heard the shot and rushed into the store. After speaking to his wife, who falsely said she had been robbed, he dialed 9-1-1 to report the shooting. Paramedics soon arrived, but Harlins was dead, her two dollars still in her left hand.

Du testified on her own behalf, stating that it was self-defense and that her life was in danger, but her words were contradicted by the statements of the two witnesses present at the time and the security camera footage, which showed her shooting Harlins in the back of the head as the 15 year-old girl was attempting to leave the store. However,the Los Angeles police department ballistics expert report also found that the handgun Du used was altered in a way that it would fire with drastically less pressure than an ordinary handgun.

Du was convicted of voluntary manslaughter with a jury recommendation of a 16-year prison sentence. The presiding judge, Joyce Karlin, reduced the sentence to probation of five years, four hundred hours of community service, and a $500.00 fine.

Impact

The incident and reduced sentencing by the court exacerbated already existing tensions between African-American residents and Asian-American merchants in South Central Los Angeles. Those tensions were later interpreted as being one of the catalysts of the 1992 Los Angeles riots as numerous Korean owned businesses were attacked.

External links

• Whose Sister Are You: Latasha Harlins, Soon Ja Du, and Joyce Karlin, A Case Study of Multicultural Female Violence and Justice on the Urban Frontier (PDF, 37 pages)