Lawrence Rhodes, 14

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Lawrence Rhodes, a 14-year-old black youngster, was stabbed to death near the intersection of Orange and Pico Boulevard in L.A.’s Mid-City area just after midnight on Sunday, Nov. 11, and died shortly after, at about 1:30 a.m. Two other young men, one a juvenile, were also stabbed. The elder was treated at a hospital for his injuries, then released; the younger underwent surgery. Both the wounded victims are expected to survive.

Rhodes had just arrived at what Wilshire homicide supervisor Chris Holroyd described as a ‘hip-hop party’ in a commercial building on Pico. People came up to him on the sidewalk, and a fistfight broke out. It was a large brawl, involving at least 10 people, she said. Someone had a knife and stabbed Rhodes and the two other victims in the chaotic scene. Arriving police officers tried to give aid to Lawrence while waiting for paramedics. The crowd around them melted away, leaving no one to tell police what had happened, or to bear witness to who had killed Lawrence.

Holroyd put out a plea to anyone who attended this event. Please call police and help them solve the case, she said. Wilshire detectives are at (213) 473-0446.

A reward for information in the case is pending.