Crime & Safety

Highland Park 7-Eleven Homicide Suspect Reportedly a Parolee

19-year-old Rasheem Childs might have been released early through the state prison realignment program.

By City News Service

A suspect in the fatal shooting of a 7-Eleven clerk in Highland Park might be a parolee released through the state's 2011 initiative to reduce California's prison population, it was reported Wednesday.

Rasheem Childs, 19, is named in a felony complaint as a suspect in the killing of Gonzalo Garcia, 31, who was gunned down on the night of Dec. 22 during a robbery of the business at 5138 N. Figueroa St., CBS2 reported. 

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A source told a CBS2/KCAL9 reporter that Childs might have been released early through California's controversial AB 109 prison realignment program.

Childs was arrested last year for a felony in Compton and, within months, was back on the streets, CBS2 reported. The Los Angeles Police Department could not immediately confirm the report.

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In the days after the crime, the LAPD released photos and descriptions of two men wanted for the fatal shooting. The felony complaint names Childs as a suspect in the killing as well as a string of armed robberies that included stores in Lincoln Heights and Boyle Heights.


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