Slain Youth’s Dreams Died With Him : Violence: Inner-city teen-ager was attending Woodland Hills school to avoid crime. Police say gang members who stabbed him may have mistaken him for a rival.

Lamoun Thames, 15, used to wake up at 5:30 a.m. to catch a bus that would take him 35 miles from the violence surrounding his home in South-Central Los Angeles to Taft High School in Woodland Hills, an area known for its low crime rate.

But for Lamoun, who dreamed of playing professional football and buying a big house for his family, it was not far enough.

On Wednesday night, he was stabbed to death on Ventura Boulevard across the street from the school, waiting for the bus that would take him home from a preseason football practice where he had just been given a chance to make the varsity team.

Los Angeles police said he was apparently killed by gang members who thought he was a rival. There are no indications he had any gang connections, investigators said.

“His dream was to play football, get a scholarship and go to college. His dream was to help his family out,” his grandmother, Janie Thames, said Friday. “He was an exceptionally sweet kid. I still can’t believe this.”

Thames said her grandson was steered to Taft because his uncle had gone there in the 1980s.

On Friday, police said they have no clues in the case.

“We’re still looking for suspects,” said Detective Rick Swanston. “It could just plain be random. Maybe they wanted to leave their mark in the neighborhood.”

Lamoun was stabbed several times at Ventura Boulevard and Winnetka Avenue about 10 p.m. as he waited for an RTD bus to take him home to 48th Street and Hooper Avenue in South-Central Los Angeles, police said.

The incident began when a carload of youths pulled up next to Lamoun and several jumped out and surrounded him, Swanston said.

Witnesses told police the youths asked Lamoun, “Where are you from?” a common street challenge to determine gang affiliation, Swanston said.

“The victim answered, ‘I’m not from anywhere,’ at which time one of the suspects struck the victim in the face with fists, then stabbed the victim several times in the chest,” Swanston said.

Lamoun ran about 50 feet before collapsing, Swanston said.

Lamoun, who was about to begin his sophomore year, grew up in a single-parent family with his mother, Ora Denise, and an older sister. The family moved several times and returned to Los Angles about three years ago from Lafayette, La.

Relatives, teachers, coaches and players described Lamoun on Friday as a quiet young man whose main goal in life was to succeed in football, despite weighing only 140 pounds and standing 5 feet, 8 inches. He was starting cornerback last year on Taft’s B team, mainly by dint of determination and hard work, his coaches said.

“Lamoun was the kind of guy who as an adult would be someone a lot of black kids could really look up to,” said Tom Simpkin, his B-team coach. “He was headed in the right direction.”

Taft football Coach Troy Starr said he had spoken to Lamoun about 6:30 p.m., just as the voluntary team workout was ending.

“The last thing I said to him was, ‘You want to play varsity?’ He said, ‘Yes.’ I promised to give him a shot and he kind of smiled. Now he’s dead. I’m still shocked.”

Starr said he has started a fund to pay for Lamoun’s funeral, which the family cannot afford. He said checks can be made payable to the Taft Booster Club.

Melvin Fulcher, 15, said he and Lamoun used to share dreams of fame and success.

“We always used to talk about going to the same college together and then going pro,” said Fulcher, whose brother plays professional football for the Cincinnati Bengals. “It’s surprising when somebody you know just gets killed,” Fulcher continued “How come this happens to someone who would never start a fight? All that stuff we talked about. All those dreams. All our plans are down the drain, cause of some stupid people.”

On Friday, the Los Angeles City Council approved a $25,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of the killers.