Two Teens Killed in Drive-By Shooting

Two teenagers riding a bicycle were killed Saturday in a drive-by shooting in the Jefferson Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, police said Sunday.

Sean Cochran, 16, and Anthony Caldwell, 19, each were shot multiple times shortly before 7 p.m., said Officer Guillermo Campos, a Los Angeles Police Department spokesman. Cochran is the nephew of lawyer Johnnie L. Cochran Jr.

Police would not speculate about the motive for the killings, which occurred near West Jefferson Boulevard and 8th Avenue. The assailant is believed to be a man in his 20s who carried a handgun, Campos said.

Caldwell’s mother, Donna Starling, 37, said her son was pursuing his high school equivalency diploma and searching for a job. “This is my oldest son,” she said. “He hadn’t even had any children yet. We were talking about that the other day.”

Starling said another son died in a house fire on Halloween 1988, when he was only 18 months old.

At the site of the shooting, passersby left candles and flowers Sunday.

Judy Gomez, 51, who lived next door to Sean, said she and her children are shaken by the deaths. Sean rode a scooter with her kids, she said, and helped neighbors rake leaves and take out trash.

Gomez said Sean did not want to live off the fame of his uncle. “Nobody knew him as Johnnie Cochran’s nephew. They knew him as Sean. That was very, very important to him.”