‘Persons of interest’ in vicious beating of San Pedro high school baseball player identified
Police have identified and interviewed two men in connection with the brutal beating of a San Pedro High School baseball player earlier this year, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
Jaymel Williams, 20, of San Pedro, and a second man have been identified as “persons of interest” in the March 30 assault that left Evan Jimenez, 15, bleeding and battered in a San Pedro alleyway, authorities said.
Williams is being held in a neighboring county on an unrelated charge, authorities said. The second man has not been identified, but both were interviewed by Sheriff’s Department detectives in recent weeks, according to Sgt. Ricky Osburn of the Lomita Station.
Police said Williams had been a person of interest in the beating since the early stages of the investigation.
In the days after the attack, authorities said they believed that Evan was attacked as part of a gang initiation ritual. The area where the attack happened is known to be Rancho San Pedro gang territory, Osburn previously said.
Now, Osburn said, police believe that the two assailants simply got into an argument with the teenager. Williams is a documented member of the Compton Treetop Piru set of the Bloods, but the crime does not appear to be gang-motivated, Osburn said.
“It was just two men who got into an argument with a teenage boy, and a fight broke out,” Osburn said Wednesday.
Williams was first interviewed by detectives on May 9, according to a Sheriff’s Department news release. Neither man has been arrested in connection with the assault, Osburn said.
Authorities said Evan was walking a female friend home hours after a baseball game on March 30 when he was confronted by two men in an alley near his home. One smashed a liquor bottle against his head, the opening salvo in a beating that left the teen with a broken jaw and brain swelling, police said.
He was placed in a medically induced coma and remained unconscious for several days. After spending several weeks in an area hospital, Evan was released late last month, according to Tammy Meyers, a family friend.
He does not remember the assault, she said.
“He’s moving forward every day. Always has a smile on his face, so hopefully, it just progresses more and more,” Meyers told The Times last month.
Twitter: @JamesQueallyLAT
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