A Young Life of Promise, Responsibility Cut Short

As the oldest of five children in the Leflore family, Selwyn Jr., 9, was often the man of the house.

While his father worked 14-hour days in an effort to make enough money to move out of their crime-ridden neighborhood, the boy looked after his younger brothers and sister.

And when “they” came around, the men with tattoos and baggy pants and guns, he was quick to hustle his siblings inside.

Now the Leflore family is left with no one to protect the children while the father is at work. In a brazen daytime attack, a gang member opened fire on a rival Monday afternoon at the Compton transit station. A stray bullet killed Selwyn Jr., whose age was initially reported incorrectly as 11, as he waited with his mother and two brothers for a bus.

The shooting prompted the Compton City Council at its meeting Tuesday to move up the hours of a citywide curfew. Effective tonight, police can detain anyone under 18 on the streets between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m.

But the Leflore family noted that the two suspects arrested in Selwyn’s slaying are both over 18 and that the attack took place at 2:45 p.m.

“I’m not sure that would work,” Selwyn Leflore Sr. said of the curfew.

While City Hall prepares for what Mayor Omar Bradley called “a new era” of tough-on-crime policies, the Leflore family is struggling to move beyond its tragedy.

“How do you tell children who have seen their brother die that there’s a future?” asked Selwyn’s aunt, Gwen Leflore. “How do you make them understand when you don’t understand yourself?”

Compton school officials struggled with the same question Tuesday, as counselors talked about the attack with Selwyn’s schoolmates at Dickison Elementary.

School officials said he had been selected as a “peacekeeper,” one of several students assigned to monitor playground areas and bathrooms to protect other students--much the same way he watched over his siblings.

“Everyone had high hopes for this kid,” said Compton Unified School District spokeswoman Vivien Hao.

The family has no insurance and doubts it can cover the costs of Selwyn’s funeral, she said. The House of Refuge Church, 1446 W. 36th Place, Los Angeles 90018, is accepting donations on behalf of the family.

The capture of two suspects in the shooting, Leflore said, is “small comfort.”

Compton police initially arrested five suspects, all of whom were found in a car that matched the description of one seen leaving the scene of the shooting.

When officers in a patrol car spotted the vehicle Monday afternoon, they attempted to pull it over. But the car sped away, and one suspect threw a handgun--believed to be the slaying weapon--out the window, said Lt. Danny Sneed. The officers stopped the car after a short chase, the lieutenant said.

Tuesday, police said Victor Adegbenro, 22, and Tyrone Manley, 19, were the prime suspects in the slaying. Adegbenro is believed to have fired the bullet that killed the boy, police said. The two men are expected to be arraigned today.

Meanwhile, police laid plans to enforce the city’s curfew.

Similar curfews are on the books in at least 146 of the nation’s 200 largest cities, according to the latest data from the U.S. Department of Justice. But critics contend that they are more popular than effective and fail to address the fundamental causes of juvenile crime.

“Most kids are good kids,” said James Alan Fox, dean of the College of Criminal Justice at Northeastern University. Curfews punish “a large number of kids for the actions of a very few.”

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Fox said a more effective curfew is on the books in Boston, where the law applies only to juveniles on probation.

Compton Police Chief Hourie L. Taylor, however, said the city’s curfew would be “a very useful tool.” The 8 p.m. deadline, he said, could be used to keep innocent minors out of harm’s way as well as keep potentially dangerous criminals off the street.

“What does help is to be able to move these kids off the street to keep them from becoming victims,” Taylor said.

But no curfew would have saved Selwyn.

His mother had transferred him to Dickison, a short walk from the transit center, because it was safer than the schools close to the family’s apartment, Gwen Leflore said.

Selwyn’s mother, Kim, would accompany him and his brothers Sedrick, 8, and Scotti, 6, to school on a municipal bus. After school, the four would meet, walk to the transit station and ride home.

At 2:45 p.m. Monday, they were waiting for the bus home, sitting on a bench at the station, when the shot rang out.

Kim Leflore “felt the bullet come past her,” Gwen Leflore said. The boy was taken to Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center, where he died.

Selwyn’s mother was too distraught to speak to reporters Tuesday.

“No one,” Gwen Leflore said, “expects to bury a 9-year-old.”