RUSSELL LAVELL MCNEIL, JR

35 Years of Age

Date of Death: 10/7/16

City of Murder: Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles Sheriff's Department

Sergeant Bill Cotter

Russell Lavell McNeil Jr., a 35-year-old black man, was shot and killed Friday, Oct. 7, 2016 in the 1000 block of West 122nd Street in the South Los Angeles neighborhood of Athens, according to Los Angeles County coroner’s records.

McNeil was sitting on a block wall outside his house before 8 p.m., waiting for his date to pick him up, when someone with a gun approached and opened fire, said Sgt. Bill Cotter. 

After the shooting, the gunman got into a car, which drove away, Cotter said. Investigators don’t have a description of the shooter or the vehicle, and it’s not known if anyone else was in the car, Cotter said. 

McNeil was found on the sidewalk with multiple gunshot wounds, and several bullet casings scattered on the ground. He was pronounced dead at the scene at 7:58 p.m., according to coroner’s records. 

A fundraising website has seen set up to create a reward for the arrest and conviction of McNeil’s killer. “This was a senseless murder of a young black man getting his life together,” the site says. 

Anyone with information is asked to call the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500. Tipsters wishing to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477.