Victim’s Mother Becomes TV Anti-Gang Crusader

After her son was killed nearly two years ago in a drive-by shooting, Lorna Hawkins’ first reaction was to move from her Lynwood neighborhood. But when witnesses failed to testify about the shooting out of fear of retaliation, Hawkins got mad and decided to fight rather than flee.

She helped organize a citizens group to monitor her neighborhood. In early 1989, she also became the host of a community cable TV show aimed at helping others who have lost relatives to gang violence. The show, “Drive-by Agony,” is aired in Lynwood and nearby cities on Continental Cablevision’s Channel 28, which runs programs produced by the community.

Hawkins, a telephone saleswoman for a Compton company, quit her job recently to become a full-time crusader.

“I don’t know what I will do,” she said, “but I feel I must devote more time to this.”

Hawkins went to the station shortly after the slaying of her son, Joe Nathan Hawkins, 21. She was “looking for someplace to express her anger,” said John Clodfelter, Continental Cable’s director of community programming.

She interviews youths, sheriff’s deputies, city officials and family members of victims. “I hope this will help the relatives,” she said. “I also hope the gang-bangers see the hurt they are causing and stop the killing. I wanted the public to know what happened to me. I want them to stop shutting their doors, turning away from this, because it is not going away.”

Hawkins, 38, and her husband, Frank, 44, have lived in Lynwood for 12 years. They have three other children, ages 18 to 23.

Joe Hawkins was shot in November, 1988, as he stood on a street near his home, talking with friends. Four suspected gang members were arrested but were released after several witnesses refused to testify, sheriff’s homicide Detective William McComas said. He said Hawkins was not a gang member.

Long Beach resident Don Tsunawaki was among 10 Los Angeles Police Department officers honored for bravery at the 31st annual Medal of Valor Awards at noon Friday at the Bonaventure Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.

Tsunawaki used his body to shield an injured officer, Chate Asvanonda, from shots being fired by a gunman during an incident the night of July 25 in North Hollywood. Asvanonda was bleeding and dazed after hitting his head on a brick wall as he scrambled to get out of the line of fire. The suspect, who had threatened to kill himself, later surrendered to officers. At the time, Tsunawaki was completing his training.

Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl F. Gates presented the medals to the officers. Actor George Peppard provided a narrative account of the officers’ heroics. The event was sponsored by the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce.

Downey resident Jackie Radoumis has not found a publisher for her romance novel, “Heaven Sent,” but her manuscript has been noticed by the Romance Writers of America. The organization gave Radoumis its top award for the best unpublished manuscript in the traditional romance category. “Heaven Sent” is about a love affair between a divorced preacher and a former ballerina.

Radoumis, 52, received the Rita award, named after Rita Clay Estrada, the group’s first president and co-founder. A fan of romance novels, Radoumis decided about six years ago to try her hand at writing. After six years, many writing seminars and several college courses in writing novels, Radoumis has four unfinished novels.

* Dan Torres has been elected president of the Long Beach branch of the League of United Latin American Citizens. A longtime resident of Long Beach, Torres is a member of the city’s Public Safety Advisory Commission. Robert Uranga, immediate past president of the chapter, was elected LULAC’s state deputy director. The league is a national Latino advocacy group for such issues as education and economics.

* John A. Arcadi, Whittier College adjunct research professor of biology, has received a $5,000 Practicing Urologist Research Award from the American Foundation on Urologic Disease, based in Maryland.

* Carol DeBiase has been named senior vice president and chief officer of clinical services at St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood.