Manhunt Ends as Suspect in Boy’s Killing Surrenders

A nationwide hunt for the alleged killer of 14-year-old Clive Jackson Jr. ended quietly Friday afternoon outside Parker Center when 17-year-old Antwaine Butler, flanked by his tearful family, surrendered to Los Angeles police.

Declaring his innocence, Butler turned himself in to homicide detectives shortly before 3 p.m., two weeks after Jackson was gunned down following a fight outside MacGee’s Donut Shop on South Western Avenue near Vernon Avenue.

The death of the college-bound Crenshaw High School student has become a rallying cry for city officials and community leaders outraged by a recent rise in gang killings that has helped make Los Angeles the nation’s homicide capital. More than a month ago, the number of killings in Los Angeles -- 587 -- surpassed the total number in all of last year.

“Thank God,” Alice Barnes, Jackson’s aunt, said when told Butler had turned himself in. “I am just glad he is off the street.”

Sharon Smith, the mother of the slain teenager, voiced similar relief. “I knew sooner or later they would get him,” she said.

Immediately after the Nov. 21 shooting, authorities said that they were looking for Butler and that he was a known member of the Rollin’ 40s Crips.

But before he was led away by detectives Friday, Butler and his attorney Mark Werksman insisted that the teenager was a victim of mistaken identity.

“I don’t know why they’re doing this,” Butler said in a brief interview. “They got the wrong guy.”

Disavowing any gang affiliations, Butler claimed he had “never seen” Jackson before authorities came looking for him in connection with the boy’s killing.

“The police say there are eyewitnesses at the doughnut shop who identify him as the shooter. But Antwaine says it was not him,” Werksman said. “He was not there and he doesn’t understand why he is being accused of this.”

Added Werksman: “I want to make sure the public understands that he is turning himself in and intends to fight these charges.”

When Butler arrived at police headquarters with Werksman, he was met by his mother, stepfather and two sisters.

Lifting his 2-year-old nephew Dorien, the teenager walked with his family to meet two detectives.

After several embraces, he was led away as his mother and sisters broke down crying.

“He didn’t do it,” said his mother, Melanie, wiping away tears as her son was driven to Juvenile Hall.

On the day of the shooting, she said, she and the family had just learned that Butler had passed his high school equivalency test at the Westside Academy High School. “Only two students at his school passed,” she said.

Before Friday, she said, her son had never been arrested. His only brush with the law, she said, was five years ago when he was caught with marijuana in junior high school. “He was given a ticket ... and they let him go,” she said.

“I know Antwaine is no gang member,” said Butler’s stepfather, Rosharn Matta. “They talk about his gang affiliation and his tattoos. The only tattoos he has are of his momma and the cross.”

Det. Rudy Lemos said the LAPD has linked Butler to a street gang and the shooting.

“With all the information we have, there is no doubt in my mind that he is the person responsible for the death of Clive Jackson,” said Lemos, homicide coordinator for the 77th Division, where nearly half of this year’s 600-plus killings have occurred.

Since shortly after the shooting, Lemos said, detectives had focused on Butler and tried unsuccessfully to negotiate a previous surrender by the teenager. “We told him the first day to come in and he procrastinated,” said Lemos.

Werksman said Butler agreed to turn himself in Friday when LAPD detectives threatened to launch a search that also would include more than 100 federal agents unless he surrendered by 6 p.m.

Though that warning could not be verified, the LAPD’s Lemos said detectives had already received plenty of assistance from other law enforcement agencies.

“Everyone, including the Border Patrol, had been notified and they were assisting,” Lemos said.