High School Dedication for Slain Alumnus

The weight room at Junipero Serra High School was scheduled to be named the Darrell Eugene Harts Memorial Weight Room at a special school ceremony Wednesday night, in honor of the Serra alumnus who was killed in a police shooting last year.

Harts, who graduated from Serra in 1980, was killed in April in South-Central Los Angeles by two Los Angeles police officers who said he fired a pistol at them first. But Harts’ family and friends have challenged the police accounts, arguing that the 30-year-old Harts would never have fired at police because he was trying to become a police officer himself.

Harts graduated from the Rio Hondo College police academy, was at the top of the list of potential recruits for the Compton Police Department and was working as a security guard at the time of his death.

Monday, county prosecutors announced they would not file criminal charges against the two officers, despite finding inconsistencies in the officers’ account. Prosecutors said there was insufficient evidence to refute the officers’ claim of self-defense.

The announcement came two days before Harts’ family and Serra officials had scheduled the weight room dedication ceremony in the school’s gym at 14830 S. Van Ness Ave., before the Serra-St. Monica High basketball game.

Harts’ family and Cal State Northridge fraternity brothers presented a memorial banner to be hung at the school and announced the establishment of a scholarship fund in Harts’ name.

Harts played football at Serra, Cal State Northridge and Utah’s Weber State University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice.

Harts’ brother Don said he and his parents initially sought to name Serra’s football field after his brother but learned it was already dedicated in someone else’s name.