KING CASE AFTERMATH: A CITY IN CRISIS : 40 Dead Represent Diverse Backgrounds : Victims: Officials and families try to unravel who died, and why. Police say odds are slim of solving many of the crimes.

Years from now, when the riots of 1992 are remembered for the community-wide anguish they spawned, Elbert Ondra Wilkins will be but one name among many in a body count of record proportions.

But to those who knew and loved him, Wilkins, 33, will always be known as the proverbial innocent victim, a self-employed stereo installer who did not have an enemy in the world but who found himself in the wrong place at the worst time.

Whether his death during the first few hours of unrest Wednesday night was truly related to the riots, who can say? Wilkins was blocks away from any pillaging when he stepped out of a store at Western Avenue and Century Boulevard and was shot by a gunman who witnesses said was wearing white gloves and was passing by in a red car.

It could have been one of those random things, friends and relatives speculated Thursday. Maybe Wilkins, who went by his middle name, was mistaken for someone else.

“Maybe,” said his father Joseph Wilkins, “this whole thing (the Rodney G. King beating case verdict) put a little more hate in everybody’s mind. Hell, maybe somebody just decided, ‘Now I can shoot anybody I want to shoot,’ and they went out and shot my boy.”

Ondra Wilkins was one of at least 40 people to die in the riots in Los Angeles County--most of whom have not been publicly identified.

Overloaded by the high number of killings and continuing civil unrest, authorities were only able to learn the names of 14 victims because many were either burned or had their wallets stolen.

The killings stretched north from Long Beach to the San Fernando Valley and from South Los Angeles to Pomona. The victims ranged from a man who was gunned down by looters to several suspected thieves shot by police. They also included:

* A Northern California businessman who flew to Los Angeles on Thursday to inspect his machine shop in South Los Angeles. Howard Epstein, 45, was shot by three men as he was driving to his company from the airport, police said. After his car came to a stop against a parked car, looters ransacked the vehicle and stole his personal belongings.

* Ira McCurry, 45, who asked looters not to torch the liquor store next to his house in South Los Angeles. He was shot in the head Thursday by one of three men in a passing car.

* An unidentified 68-year-old man, believed to be a shopkeeper, who was strangled to death at 4:30 p.m. Friday after trying to stop looters outside a market in West Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles County Coroner reported that by noon Friday, riot-related killings exceeded the 34 killings recorded in the six-day-long Watts riots in 1965. On Friday, the total rose to 40.

In all, 11 people were killed in encounters with police, four were burned, one beaten, one stabbed, one strangled and the rest were slain by gunshots.

Most of the victims were black, though at least nine were Latino, five were Anglo and one was Asian.

Among the fatalities were four suspected looters and shooters who were shot by Los Angeles police officers and sheriff’s deputies in four separate incidents.

At about 8 p.m. Thursday, LAPD officers witnessed two suspected looters leaving a gas station at 4404 Western Ave., according to Officer Don Cox, an LAPD spokesman. One suspect was carrying a shotgun and, according to the police report, pointed it at officers who responded with a volley of 10 rounds.

The suspect died at the scene. His alleged accomplice was wounded when he removed what officers believed was a gun from his clothing. The item in his hand turned out to be a beer can, Cox said. The victim was transported to California Medical Center and was listed in critical condition.

Another man was shot by police when he brandished what turned out to be a toy gun. At about 10 p.m. Thursday, LAPD officers stopped about 25 suspected looters at 6th Street and Westlake Avenue. When the suspects were ordered to lie on the ground, a male Latino pulled the toy from the waistband of his trousers and was immediately shot by the two officers--one 9mm round and one shotgun blast. He died at the scene, and a second suspect was wounded by the shotgun fire.

A third officer-involved shooting took place at about 10:30 p.m. Thursday when LAPD officers came upon what they described as a gun battle between two groups at 3rd Street and Hobart Boulevard. When the combatants failed to comply with officers’ demands to drop their weapons, shots were exchanged. One man was found dead and two were wounded. The wounded said they had been hit before police arrived.

It was unclear whether officers were responsible for the fatality, but the case was being investigated as an officer-involved slaying. Coroner’s officials identified the dead man as Edward Song Lee, 18, of Los Angeles.

Late Thursday afternoon, Sheriff’s deputies shot and killed a 15-year old black youth suspected of looting and firing at officers at 107th and Burin streets in Hawthorne.

Ondra Wilkins would have never been the kind to get involved in such activities, according to his father, a retired county maintenance worker.

“I saw to that,” Joseph Wilkins said. “Every time a black man gets killed, in the paper it’s always ‘gang-related’ or ‘dope-related.’ Not this time. Not all the time.”

One of five children, Ondra Wilkins grew up in South-Central Los Angeles on East 90th Street in a small but tidy house with tree roses out front and chartreuse security bars on the windows.

As a teen-ager, he and his father restored a 1974 Dodge van in their back yard. What began as the younger Wilkins’ fascination with the inner workings of automobiles would grow into his own thriving business: installing stereos and car alarms.

He and his girlfriend, Tomika Brown, recently had a baby. Friends say he was never happier.

On Wednesday night, as violence raged elsewhere in South Los Angeles, Wilkins stopped for a soda with two friends, Ira Collins and Johnny Ray Ganaway, at the store on Western and Century. Wilkins had just walked out with two sodas when gunfire rang out.

“I’m hit,” Wilkins shouted as he received a serious back wound that punctured a lung. Ganaway had been less seriously wounded in the back.

Collins piled Wilkins and Ganaway into a van and raced to Martin Luther King Jr.-Drew Medical Center--but crashed into another car at Century and Hoover Street. Only after Collins pleaded, he said, did two LAPD officers agree to drive Wilkins the rest of the way to the hospital.

When Joseph Wilkins arrived at the hospital a few minutes later, he was met by a social worker.

“How is he?” Wilkins said.

“Well,” the social worker said. “He’s gone.”

If just one police officer had been found guilty in the King beating trial, maybe none of this would have happened, Joseph Wilkins speculated, and maybe his son would be alive today.

“You try to figure out why,” he said, shaking his head. “I can’t.”

The List of Fatalities

Here is a list of the killings that have been tentatively linked by the coroner’s office to riots that followed the not guilty verdicts in the trial of officers accused in the beating of Rodney G. King. As the violence spread and the number of dead climbed, details about the victims became increasingly sparse. WEDNESDAY

8:15 p.m.: Louis Watson, 18, of West 43rd Place was fatally wounded by a gunshot to the head at a bus stop at Vernon and Vermont avenues.

Moments later: Dwight Taylor, a 42-year-old black man, was fatally injured at 446 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

9 p.m.: Arturo Miranda, 20, of West 120th Street was fatally shot in his car at 120th Street and Central Avenue.

10:40 p.m.: Anthony Netherly, 21, a black man, was fatally shot at 78th and San Pedro streets.

11:15 p.m.: Elbert Wilkins, 33, a black man, shot at 92nd Street and Western Avenue.

Later: A 15-year-old white male was killed in a drive-by shooting in the San Fernando Valley community of Mission Hills. Coroner’s officials said they had reason to believe it was linked to racial unrest.

Shortly after 11 p.m.: Two men were fatally shot in a gun battle with LAPD officers at the Nickerson Gardens housing project. One of the men was identified as Dennis Jackson, 38, of Alvaro Street in Los Angeles.

Just after midnight: Two men and a woman being chased in a car by Beverly Hills police died in a traffic crash at Santa Monica Boulevard and Seward Street in Hollywood.

THURSDAY

12:10 a.m.: Ira McCurry, 45, a white man, was fatally shot at 102nd Street and Avalon Boulevard. McCurry was shot in the head when he attempted to stop looters from burning the liquor store next to his house.

Later: A 34-year-old Latino male was found dead on West Slauson Avenue. No other details were available.

Still later: Another male of unknown race and age was listed as dead at Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital of riot-related injuries, according to coroner’s officials.

1:30 p.m.: After flying to Los Angeles to inspect his machine shop, Howard Epstein of Orinda, Calif., was shot to death near 7th Street and Slauson Avenue and his car was ransacked by looters.

About 2 p.m.: Compton police reported that a male was fatally shot in an officer-involved incident.

Sometime in the afternoon: A man was shot on a street corner in the Hollenbeck District on the Eastside.

At 5 p.m.: A 15-year-old black male was shot and killed by sheriff’s deputies at 107th and Burin streets in Hawthorne after allegedly looting a jewelry store and firing at officers. A second man was wounded and escaped.

About 6:30 p.m.: Two men were pulled off a motorcycle at 19th and Lemon streets in Long Beach by a mob and were robbed. The driver of the motorcycle was shot in the head and died at the scene.

Time unknown: A man was found shot to death at Willbrook Avenue and Alondra Boulevard.

Time unknown: A pedestrian was hit and killed in a traffic accident at 16th Street and Central Avenue.

Time unknown: A security guard was shot to death at 740 W. Olympic Blvd.

Time unknown: A 49-year-old Latino male was gunned down at 3rd Street and Vermont Avenue.

Time unknown: A man was shot to death at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Rhea Street.

About 8 p.m.: LAPD officers shot and killed a male Latino suspected of looting a Shell service station at Western and Vernon avenues and pointing a shotgun at police.

About 10 p.m.: LAPD officers shot and killed a male Latino suspected of looting at 6th and Westlake streets when he drew what turned out to be a toy gun.

At 10:30 p.m.: Edward Song Lee, 18, was shot in a confusing cross-fire of two rival groups and LAPD officers at 3rd and Hobart streets. It was unclear if Lee, identified by coroner’s officials as of Korean descent, was shot by officers or civilians.

Time unknown: A 25-year-old male Latino was shot to death at Santa Monica and Vermont avenues.

FRIDAY

Time unknown: A male of undetermined age and race was found burned to death in a possible arson at Bradock and Inglewood avenues in Inglewood.

Time unknown: A 19-year-old Latino youth was shot to death at 4028 Santa Monica Blvd.

Time unknown: A 32-year-old male Latino was stabbed to death at 2034 W. Pico Blvd.

Time unknown: A male black was shot to death at 614 S. Locust St. in Compton.

Time unknown: A burn victim of undetermined age, race and sex was found in a possible arson at 3526 Winslow Drive.

Time unknown: A male black was shot to death at Holt and Lorain streets in Pomona.

Time unknown: A 15-year-old black man was shot to death at Vermont Avenue and 43rd Street.

Time unknown: A male Latino was brought dead on arrival to County-USC Medical Center with an apparent gunshot wound. Location of the shooting was not known.

Time unknown: A body was found in the charred remains of a building at 2882 West 9th St. The age, sex and race of the victim were not immediately determined.

In the afternoon: A female Anglo was stabbed to death on New York Drive in Altadena. The coroner said sheriff’s investigators considered the case to be riot-related.

Around dusk: Two LAPD officers patrolling near Florence Boulevard and theHarbor Freeway were ambushed by three snipers and returned the fire, killing one male.

Early evening: A 68-year-old white male was strangled to death at a looting scene at 11690 Gateway St. Coroner’s officials said the man may have been a store proprietor trying to stop looting.