Lawsuit filed against owners of South LA apartments identified as hangout for violent street gang
A nuisance abatement lawsuit has been filed against the owner of a South Los Angeles apartment building where a violent street gang has set up shop, uncomfortably close to two elementary schools, a recreation center, and a park.
The lawsuit filed against the owners of the six-unit apartment building at 678 East 41st Street is seeking an injunction requiring crime deterrents, such as a gate with electronic access control to secure the building, an internet-connected video monitoring system accessible by the LAPD, enhanced lighting, and prompt removal of graffiti.
"It's concerning, because other gang members see it and that makes it worse because they go into each other's territory and it's bad for those who have nothing to do with it," said a mother who asked to remain unidentified because her son attends one of the nearby schools.
According to the complaint, the property is a regular hangout and hideout for a violent South LA street gang. In the past two years, there have been at least eight arrests for illegal firearm possession and two shootings associated with the building. The property is less than 1,000 feet from Lizarraga and Harmony elementary schools, the Gilbert Lindsay Recreation Center, and Avalon-San Pedro Park.
"As students returned to the classroom last week it is important to remember that our kids need to be safe not only in school, but on their way to school," LA City Attorney Mike Feuer said in a statement. "We're taking decisive steps to shut down this violent hotspot for good — for the good of the neighborhood."
The LAPD considers the building one of the most dangerous gang hotspots in the Newton Division. Just last year, the LAPD responded to a drive-by shooting in front of the building, where a person who was found with a gunshot wound to the hand was identified as someone who was arrested there a year earlier for possession of a military-grade assault rifle. In May of 2020, a tenant reported she and her children threw themselves to the floor of their second-floor apartment after hearing shots fired from 41st Street, and finding her window broken and drywall damaged by a bullet.
A vacant apartment in the building is allegedly used by the gang as a place to hide from the police and stash stolen goods, weapons, and other contraband. A search warrant served on the apartment in February turned up a pump-action shotgun, a 9mm semi-automatic firearm, an AR pistol semi-automatic firearm, 300 rounds of ammunition, 15 magazines, and cocaine. Feuer's office said a gambling machine, a pool table, and a stripper pole were also found in the apartment.
"Too often unscrupulous landlords and operators perpetuate the violence by their refusal to take responsibility for appropriate preventive and protective measures," LAPD Chief Michel Moore said in a statement.
The city attorney's office says the building has been owned by the CNN Living Trust, with 22-year-old Christian King as its trustee, since 2019. King was convicted in March of robbery and assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury, and arrested in August of 2021 for possessing a loaded gun, according to Feuer's office.
Feuer said that King holds the building's legal title, but his mother, Tamica King, claims to manage and control the building. Both were named as defendants in the lawsuit.
In a statement, Tamica King said her family was "completely blindsided" by Feuer's announcement. She said the property is home to dozens of women and children who would otherwise be homeless and houses a music studio, and that they have never been notified of any shootings at the building. She said she would not be intimidated by the threat of removal to "accommodate a more comfortable aesthetic resulting in even more South Los Angeles displacement," but would invite the city to help them "create a flourishing environment for the residents who have lived many generations in our community."
