Homicide Numbers Could Be at 60-Year Low for L.A.
Los Angeles is on its way to achieving its lowest homicide total in 60 years, according to an announcement from Mayor Bass today.The number of homicides in the city dropped by about 20 percent in the first six months of 2025. Bass credits safety strategies and a significant decrease in gang-related crimes affecting L.A. youth.'Especially with the summer underway, we will continue to implement comprehensive safety strategies with law enforcement and community organizations to keep Angelenos safe,' Bass said in an Instagram post this morning. 'That means swiftly responding when crime happens and holding people accountable while also working to prevent crime from happening in the first place.'
The LAPD reported 116 homicides through June 28, down from 152 during this time last year, NBC 4 says.Gang-related homicides in gang reduction and youth development zones have decreased by 56% since 2022, according to a FOX 11 report.
This story was originally reported by L.A. Mag on Jul 9, 2025, where it first appeared.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fox News
25 minutes ago
- Fox News
Victims of 'Bernie Madoff of cows' take on major banks in massive ghost cattle Ponzi scheme
Victims of a deceased financier known as the "Bernie Madoff of cows" are suing three banks, alleging they enabled the fraud that resulted in a $100 million Ponzi scheme. Some of those duped by Brian McClain, of Benton, Kentucky, filed a lawsuit against Community Financial Services Bank, Rabo AgriFinance and Mechanics Bank, alleging the institutions ignored red flags that left dozens of Kentucky investors with financial losses, the New York Post reported. The fraud was uncovered days after McClain killed himself at age 52 on April 18, 2023. He initially promised 30% returns to investors while orchestrating a "ghost cattle" scheme in which the livestock never actually existed, authorities said. "CFSB strongly denies the allegations in question, and believes the claims against the bank to be entirely without merit," the bank said in a statement to The Post. "The bank through counsel has filed a Motion to Dismiss in the suit brought by the bankruptcy trustee." A spokesperson for Rabo AgriFinance told Fox News Digital that the courts will have the ultimate say. "Rabo AgriFinance remains strongly committed to providing financial solutions to U.S. cattle producers, feedlots, and processors," a statement from the bank reads. "As stated in prior court filings, the claims have no basis under the law, and many of the allegations are completely inaccurate. As the legal process unfolds Rabo AgriFinance will refrain from commenting further." Fox News Digital has reached out to all three banks named in the lawsuit. McClain's scheme collapsed when Rabo AgriFinance, McClain's primary lender, discovered a massive discrepancy in inventory, the newspaper reported. During an audit, only 10,000 cattle were found, far less than the 88,000 McClain claimed to have. While McClain claimed to have 88,000 head of cattle, only about 10,000 were found during an audit, exposing the bulk of the herd as "ghost cattle." After McClain's death last year, representatives from Rabo AgriFinance seized the remaining cattle from McClain's operation and sold them through Blue Grass Stockyards. Three of McClain's companies — McClain Farms in Benton, Kentucky; 7M Cattle Feeders in Hereford, Texas; and McClain Feed Yard in Friona, Texas — filed for bankruptcy in 2023. The unpaid livestock sellers could be protected under the Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921, which requires that all livestock purchased by a dealer in cash sales, along with any receivables or proceeds from those livestock, be held in trust for the benefit of unpaid sellers, according to the Department of Agriculture. McClain's moniker is named after Bernie Madoff, the former Nasdaq chairman who masterminded the largest Ponzi scheme in U.S. history by defrauding thousands of investors. Madoff died in 2021 at the age of 81 while serving a 150-year sentence at the federal medical care center in a North Carolina federal prison.
Associated Press
30 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Bronx family seeks answers after teen dies in police custody over the July Fourth weekend
NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City family is seeking answers after local authorities say a teenager died of an apparent suicide while in police custody over the Fourth of July weekend. Saniyah Cheatham, an 18-year-old Bronx resident, died by hanging herself in a holding cell at a Bronx police precinct, the city Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said Monday. But a lawyer for Cheatham's family called on the agency to release its detailed findings and for police to release surveillance video of the police station and other information about her arrest and death. 'We don't know why she was arrested. We just know she's dead,' said Ben Crump, a Florida attorney who has represented the families of Michael Brown, George Floyd, Trayvon Martin and other Black people killed by police nationally. Thomasina Cheatham said her daughter appeared happy at a family barbecue just hours earlier. 'I just want to know what happened,' she said during a news conference in front of the Bronx police station where Cheatham died. 'That was my only daughter.' The medical examiner's office, in an emailed response, said its findings were discussed with the teen's family and that the full autopsy report with all supporting documentation will be provided to them at a later date. Police, meanwhile, confirmed Cheatham had been arrested in connection with an assault but declined to answer follow-up questions Monday about the circumstances of the death. The agency said only that the incident is being reviewed by its force investigation division. Police previously said Cheatham was found unconscious around 12:30 a.m. on July 5 at the 41st Precinct stationhouse, which serves the Hunts Point and Longwood areas of the Bronx. The agency said at the time that officers performed CPR until emergency medical officials arrived and transported her to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
CBS News
30 minutes ago
- CBS News
Brooklyn daughter after mother is struck by stray bullet: "I do feel unsafe here"
A 65-year-old woman was hit by a stray bullet while walking to the store in broad daylight in Brooklyn. Police are still looking for the shooter. "I had a chance to see her. She's doing OK, she's pulling through," the victim's daughter told CBS News New York. She spoke through her door, too frightened to show her face. She said her mother was walking to get groceries just after 10 a.m. Sunday near Brooklyn Avenue and Foster Avenue when she was shot. "She was going to the store, and she said she just felt her leg give way. She realized she got shot. She started screaming she got shot," the woman's daughter said. "They don't want to paralyze her" The woman was rushed to Kings County Hospital. Her daughter said she was awake, but that the bullet was lodged near her hip. "Close to the hip. That's why they can't remove the bullet. They don't want to paralyze her," she said. Witnesses told CBS News New York the gunman was standing in front of a community center and fired down the street. He took off in a black BMW, police sources said. "She said she didn't see because her back was turned. She didn't see anything," the woman's daughter said. Ten shell casings were found at the scene. Police sources said they're still searching for the suspect, who was dressed in a light blue sweatshirt. As the woman recovers, her daughter said she's scared to even step outside. "I do feel unsafe here, because there's always shooting," she said. Anyone with any information is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). You can also submit a tip via their website or via DM on X, @NYPDTips. All calls are kept confidential.
