One year after a South L.A. teenager was killed in an unsolved shooting, friends and family members on Sunday held a prayer vigil in Leimert Park.
Bijan Michael Shoushtari, 18, was shot three times just after 12 a.m. on Aug. 3, 2013, near the intersection of Crenshaw Boulevard and West Vernon Avenue, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
Shoushtari, who was captain of the football team at Hamilton High School, was riding in a car with friends when a gray or silver vehicle pulled up alongside and a shooter opened fire, the LAPD said at the time.
Since the teenager’s death, his mother, Marsha Jones Shoushtari, has spoken out against the scourge of violence in South Los Angeles.
“Before my son was killed, shot, I was like, ‘Oh, my God. I feel so sorry for that mother,'” she said Sunday, wearing a T-shirt that bore a photo of Bijan and the words “STOP THE V10LENCE, SAVE LIVES.” “But, guess what? I’m that mother now. I’m that mother. I’m the one that hurts.”
She said Bijan had wanted to become a firefighter-paramedic after graduating from high school.
The city of Los Angeles is offering a $50,000 reward in the homicide case.