GUILTY CA - Ronald Barron, 40, LA anti-gang counselor, shot to death, 7 Feb 2010

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100210...5bl9oZWFkbGluZV9saXN0BHNsawN0ZWVuYXJyZXN0ZWQ-

Teen arrested in killing of LA anti-gang counselor

"When Ronald "Loony" Barron urged a young graffiti tagger to put away his paint cans, he was doing what he viewed as his mission — steering kids away from crime — but he paid for it with his life.

Los Angeles police arrested a 16-year-old boy on Tuesday, saying he would be charged with murder for shooting Barron to death Sunday night after Barron confronted him.

A 40-year-old former member of the notorious Crips gang, Barron in more recent years had become a respected anti-gang counselor who had preached against violence in schools and jails.

"He was all about helping children like the little kid who shot him," Barron's younger brother Anthony Blanks said. "He was out there helping children from making the same mistakes he made."

Police Cmdr. Andrew Smith said detectives started working on the case shortly after Barron died of multiple gunshot wounds at a hospital. They soon found a surveillance videotape from a business near the scene of the shooting that showed a tagger at work."

Poor man. You change your way of living and then give back and get murdered for it?

Sad. Sad. Sad.

These kids they just shoot. Kill. Murder. Whenever they feel disrespected they'll just blow you away. Here's a man who is street smart. A man trying to help kids not make the same mistakes he has.

Sad.

im not blaming him for his own death, but dont we think he was a bit of a hypocrit? and as a member of the crypts who knows what dark crimes he himself had in his own closet.........

kbl--IMO, the man was rehabilitated. Read what the LASD and the LAPD said about him. He did his time at Pelican Bay. That's the hardest hard time. He obviously turned his life around and gave back to thousands of kids. Yes, the man made horrid mistakes. But isn't this exactly what we ask from criminals? Turn the truck around, head in the right direction, and give back to society. He followed the game plan and got killed.

It's especially poignant when a person has tried so hard to make it right and gets cut down. I read that he has a son getting ready to graduate from college. He's been doing something right with his life. Bless him for the work he did.

I'm going to say that Barron vindicated himself from a early involvement in violence. These are some pretty glowing words. Would we rather have the alternative and have him still locked up or involved in a life of crime? I truly believe in the possibility of rehabilitation. I think it's quite rare for those coming out of Pelican Bay. Young gang members aren't going to listen to you and me, kbl, no matter how well meaning we might be. You've gotta have a history, that credibility. These guys have to trust that you know what you're talking about. This man did.


"Those who knew him said Barron's charisma and the sincerity of his stance against violence, as well as his street cred as a former member of the Mansfield Crips and a former inmate of Pelican Bay State Prison, made him an especially effective gang intervention worker.

"He had a tremendous personality," said Jim Brown, the former NFL player who founded Amer-I-Can, the anti-gang program that Barron carried out in schools and jails. "The kids loved him. He made a difference in saving young people's lives."

Barron totally turned his life around to become an amazing counselor. He helped to change the lives of many. He knew this was a possibility, but did it anyway.

From September 2012:

http://laist.com/2012/09/18/tagger_who_shot_gang_interventionis.php

Barron had turned his life around and was working as a gang outreach and intervention worker. Still, going up to the tagger proved fatal; the 16-year-old boy shot Barron dead, in front of witnesses.

Now that teenager is an adult, and offered an apology in court today after being sentenced to 29 years in prison for the killing...

[Mark Anthony] Villasenor pleaded no contest to one felony count each of voluntary manslaughter, possession of a concealed firearm, felony vandalism and being an active participant in a criminal street gang.

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