ARTISTS GUNNED DOWN IN VENICE
Two young men, Victor Rodriguez and Jose Acosta,
19-year-olds from Compton, were killed and another wounded in a brutally
senseless murder on August 15.
By John
Davis
Most people reading this walk or
drive this same street. As the saying goes “there but for the grace of God
go I.” It could have been any of us delighting in finding a parking place
in Venice only to head to the beach to relax and in their cases, create art for
the soul and the pleasure of all to
behold.
I live on this street, Venice
Way, and after the yellow police tape was gone and the blood was sprayed down
the street drains, a small memorial of candles and flowers
appeared.
A week later they are still
lit on a nightly basis, by someone who cared. A candle with Mother Mary’s
light shining down, some candles in a brown paper bag to glow even in a nightly
ocean breeze, and flowers that remind us of two young artistic souls present in
Venice forever.
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Death
in Venice – The media wrongly reported that gang members were shot and
killed in Venice on Aug. 15. They turned out to be innocent
“taggers” on their way to the graffiti wall on the beach. Most of
the media never noted their mistake.
Posted: Wed - September 1, 2004 at 03:32 PM