The murder of Jamiel Shaw II occurred on March 2, 2008, in

Arlington Heights, Los Angeles Arlington Heights is a neighborhood in Central Los Angeles, California. Geography Per Council File: 02-2353, adopted on October 30, 2002, the City of Los Angeles defined Arlington Heights as the area bounded by the west side of Arlington Avenue, t ...

, California. Shaw, a 17-year-old

Los Angeles High School Los Angeles High School is the oldest Public education#United States, public high school in the Southern California, Southern California Region and in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Its colors are royal blue and white and the teams are ...

football player, was shot by two

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

men while returning home from the

Beverly Center Beverly Center is a shopping mall in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is an eight-story structure located at the edge of Beverly Hills and West Hollywood, between La Cienega and San Vicente boulevards. Anchor tenants include Blooming ...

. Shaw was taken to a hospital, where he later died. A gang member, Pedro Espinoza, was later apprehended and convicted of the murder. Because Espinoza was an

illegal immigrant Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of the immigration laws of that country or the continued residence without the legal right to live in that country. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upwar ...

who had just been released from jail, the shooting sparked controversy and political debate over

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

' status as a

sanctuary city Sanctuary city (; ) refers to municipal jurisdictions, typically in North America, that limit their cooperation with the national government's effort to enforce immigration law. Leaders of sanctuary cities say they want to reduce fear of deport ...

, and over

Special Order 40 Special Order 40 is a police mandate implemented in 1979 by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), its Police Chief Daryl Gates and the Los Angeles City Council preventing LAPD officers from questioning people for the sole purpose of determining ...

Backgrounds

Jamiel Shaw II

Jamiel "Jas" Andre Shaw, II (December 22, 1990, – March 2, 2008) was a junior at

. He played football, basketball, baseball, the piano, and ran track. On the morning of his murder, he had participated in a weekend football training program that prepares top high school football players for college football and a possible career in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

. Shaw was also being prospected by several colleges, including

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

and

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

. Shaw's mother Anita was serving her second tour in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

at the time of his death.

Pedro Espinoza

Pedro Espinoza (born 1989) was a member of the

18th Street Gang 18th Street, also known as , , , or simply in Central America, is a multi-ethnic (largely Central American and Mexican) transnational criminal organization that started as a street gang in Los Angeles. It is one of the largest transnational ...

and was residing in the U.S. illegally. He had previously been arrested in November 2007 on gun charges and assault on a police officer. He was given a four-month early release from jail on March 1, 2008. He murdered Shaw the next day. A day after Shaw's murder, Espinoza reported to his probation officer.

Shooting

In the early evening of March 2, 2008, Shaw returned home from the

. He was walking from the bus stop when his father, Jamiel Sr., called him on his phone. Shaw answered the phone and told him he was nearby. He was three blocks away from his home when he was killed. At about 8:40 p.m., two Hispanic men jumped out of a white car, confronted Shaw, and asked him what gang he belonged to. When he did not answer quickly enough, they shot him. Shaw's father heard the gunshots, ran outside, and stayed by his son until medical personnel arrived. Shaw was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 9:55 p.m. Shaw was first shot in the stomach, causing him to fall to the ground. While he was on the ground with his hands over his head, he was shot through his hands, with the bullet then traveling into his face. Within an hour of Shaw's murder, Espinoza was found in a park by a

Culver City Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. Founded in 1917 as a "whites only" sundown town, it is now an ethnically diverse city with what was called the "third-most ...

police officer unaware of the shooting. Because the park was closed, he was told to leave. The officer wrote down the license plate number of his vehicle and later shared it with the

Los Angeles Police Department The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), officially known as the City of Los Angeles Police Department, is the municipal police department of Los Angeles, California. With 9,974 police officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the third-large ...

. Espinoza was later arrested.

Legal proceedings

Espinoza was formally charged with

first-degree murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the c ...

. He was convicted on May 9, 2012. The guilty verdict also included special circumstances, which made Espinoza eligible for the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

. On May 23, 2012, the jury sentenced Espinoza to death.

Lawsuit

In 2009, the Shaw family filed a

wrongful death Wrongful death claim is a claim against a person who can be held liable for a death. The claim is brought in a civil action, usually by close relatives, as enumerated by statute. In wrongful death cases, survivors are compensated for the harm, l ...

lawsuit against

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is the ...

and Sheriff

Lee Baca Leroy David Baca (born May 27, 1942) is a convicted criminal and former American law enforcement officer who served as the 30th Sheriff of Los Angeles County, California from 1998 to 2014. In 2017, he was convicted of felony obstruction of justi ...

. The suit also alleged negligence, violation of the

Immigration and Nationality Act The U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act may refer to one of several acts including: * Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 * Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 * Immigration Act of 1990 See also * List of United States immigration legisla ...

, and deprivation of civil rights. In 2010, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charles F. Palmer determined that the defendants were legally immune from the action, and dismissed the lawsuit.

Funeral

Shaw's funeral was held on March 11, 2008, at the

West Angeles Church of God in Christ West Angeles Church of God in Christ is a Pentecostal megachurch and a member of the Church of God in Christ denomination. Its main place of worship, the West Angeles Cathedral, is located in the West Adams Historic District of Los Angeles, Califo ...

Reaction

Shaw's murder sparked criticism and political debate over Los Angeles'

policy and

, which aimed to strengthen community safety by disallowing local officials from questioning a resident's immigration status, thus enabling local victims of crime to file reports without fear of deportation. In rapper

Ice Cube An ice cube is a small piece of ice, which is typically rectangular as viewed from above and trapezoidal as viewed from the side. Ice cubes are products of mechanical refrigeration and are usually produced to cool beverages. They may be produc ...

's music video " Why Me?", the Jamiel Shaw case is prominently featured.

Jamiel's Law

In response to the controversy, the Shaw family supports "Jamiel's Law," which would rescind Special Order 40. Mayoral candidate Walter Moore campaigned as a supporter of this initiative. An attempt to get this proposal onto the May 2009 election ballot failed when supporters did not gather enough signatures.

Reaction from victim's family

Shaw's parents became supporters of

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

2016 presidential campaign This national electoral calendar for 2016 lists the national/federal elections held in 2016 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *7 January: Kir ...

. Shaw Sr. was featured in a Trump television advertisement, and spoke at several Trump rallies.

References

External links

www.JamielShaw.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shaw, Jamiel 2008 controversies Shaw, Jamiel Shaw, Jamiel 2008 in Los Angeles Murder in Los Angeles Shaw, Jamiel Political controversies in the United States Protests in the United States March 2008 events in the United States Illegal immigration to the United States