Last Thursday there was a vigil forCharupha Wongwisetsiri, who was killed in her kitchen in Angeleno Heights. It rained that night, and it was cold, but there was a good turnout.

Kirsten Markson emailed me a description of the event. She described a:

solemn, candlelit procession through the neighborhood. We took a circuitous route and stuck out the rain and cold, passing by a number of houses where known gang members live. A police car and a Select Patrol car guided us through the neighborhood, and many people who didn't walk came to their windows to look out and wave. It all had a very "take back the night" vibe. A local church sent a lot of people and most others were a diverse group from the neighborhood, including a number of kids in strollers and a few wet dogs. We stopped in front of the girl's house for a moment of prayer, and then Ed Reyes spoke, calling for peace. A basket of cards and donations was given to the girl's stepfather and people left candles on the porch, near the still-visible bullet hole.

I found the event encouraging in general, but this is the first time in nearly 3 years that Ed Reyes has shown up at any neighborhood events, and I think that is largely because there were TV cameras and other reporters. We haven't had a neighborhood rep in his office for months, and service for Angelino Heights in general has been abysmal. Many of us try to work with them and the police, and it goes nowhere. I have been told many times by the local SLO [senior lead officer] that Angelino Heights is the "Beverly Hills" of Rampart Division, that we have relatively little crime which is why we get such lousy police coverage. The thing is, we get PLENTY of crime, and lots of shots fired, and deserve better. There are so many neighbors that want to keep up the momentum and make the neighborhood safer for all, but we don't get the support and resources from the city that we need in order to make that a reality. It is sad. Last night there were more gunshots.

On Friday, Steve Lopez wrote about the vigil in his Times column.