Billboard raises awareness of 4 unsolved murders in the LA area
LOS ANGELES — The group Justice for Murdered Children unveiled its latest billboard campaign Friday in South Los Angeles in hopes of raising awareness and generating tips in four unsolved homicide cases.
The new billboard — at 104th Street and Vermont Avenue — displays the faces of four young murder victims, two men and two women, whose cases remain unsolved. Each billboard asks the chilling question: “Do You Know Who Murdered Me?” and reminds residents they can anonymously report tips to Los Angeles Crime Stoppers.
Seven such billboards have been installed across the city as part of a broader campaign to encourage witnesses and community members to overcome the cultural cliché that says “Snitches get stitches.” The group urges witnesses and those in the know to come forward with information.
“We’re saying stand up and tell if you know something,” LaWanda Hawkins, founder of San Pedro-based Justice for Murdered Children, told City News Service. “How do we break the code of silence when we have a community that’s saying `Don’t say anything?’ We say it’s OK, and we’ll support you when you say something.”
Victims pictured on the billboards include:
— Ezmeralda McGee, 22, murdered Jan. 24, 2022, in South Los Angeles;
— Kishaundra Gatlin, 43, murdered March 29, 2023, in the Chesterfield Square area;
— Edgar Vazquez, 20, murdered July 6, 2022, in Los Angeles County; and
— Reginald Thompson, Sr., 34, murdered Sept. 11, 2022, near Vermont Avenue and Imperial Highway.
Hawkins said the pictured victims represent the many cases that remain open, with families left to grieve in silence. The billboard campaign is both a memorial and a call to action, urging the public to break the code of silence and help law enforcement bring justice to the families, she said.
“Our loved ones deserve justice, and we need the public’s help,” Hawkins said. “These billboards are voices for the voiceless, reminders that these cases are not forgotten and neither are the families left behind.”
JMC was established in 1996 by Hawkins, whose motivation came from the tragic loss of her son Reginald, who was murdered in December 1995.