Alleged gunman in Ross case has violent past, gang ties

In November 2008, a man, center, identified by sources close to the Melody Ross investigation as alleged gunman Tom Vinson, clutches the jacket of his good friend Jabari Benton, 15, at the site where Benton was shot at the corner of 11th Street and Ohio Ave.

[bubba]

Let's keep the racism,
apologetics for gang life
and
mis-spellings
down on these
posts.
Sorry for melody
and the
young man
who will hang behind bars.

[bubba]

umm,
hang out.

[Juan Pardell]

Nothing in this story should come as a surprise to any of us.

[LBc]

So...these youths don't live in the Lakewood or Wilson High areas.....the district needs to do away with school of choice and send students to school where they live. Having friends that went to Wilson and friends that work at Lakewood ...I get the feeling that teachers and staff as well as most students don't feel real safe.......cause if you bring attention to these types you are picking on them......and gosh.....there always seems to be a conection to FOOTBALL...maybe we should take alook at the way we coach football.....everyone knows business deals are made on the golf course.

[ABM]

Wow, I went to middle school with these guys!

[Peace]

Lakewood needs to get out of the Moore League and the LBUSD before it to is a sewer city.

[Jose]

Put these animals in a cage where they belong, let them get man rapped for the rest of their worthless days.

As for their parents. Shame on you for raising uncivilized animals. You had to have known they were gang members from all the trouble the were in. They must have had good roll models.

LBUSD, why do you let this animal attend Lakewood high school. His parents cave is in Compton! Let the Comptonites stay with their peers. This is yet another reason Lakewood is turning into Long Beach.

[LB Parent]

The parent(s) of these thugs should be responsible for this action too, how are you not knowing what your kids are doing..not going to school, carrying guns, gang involved...Parent(s) you should be ashamed of yourself!!

[Steve]

I'm sure I will have a better perspective as time goes on, but right now I'm for 'try em' and 'fry em'.

[Cuts]

It appears that a lot of youth play sports and gangbang. It was approximately three weeks ago that Lakewood's star running back was arrested for a attempt murder, hit and run, firing a firearm into a crowd. But that does not have anything to do with what the school represents. All LB area high schools have violent gang members in attendance. Maybe we should change the rules about attending regular school when you are released from camp and are on probation. These students should have a school of their own. if they choose to transition back to regular school they should meet certian standards. As long as they are on probation and fail to meet these standdards they should be placed in a locked facility until change comes about. These students always have a criminal history and are o probation. if they are locked down that could curtail some of the violence. standards

LBc wrote:

So...these youths don't live in the Lakewood or Wilson High areas.....the district needs to do away with school of choice and send students to school where they live. Having friends that went to Wilson and friends that work at Lakewood ...I get the feeling that teachers and staff as well as most students don't feel real safe.......cause if you bring attention to these types you are picking on them......and gosh.....there always seems to be a conection to FOOTBALL...maybe we should take alook at the way we coach football.....everyone knows business deals are made on the golf course.

[Kelly M Bray]

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) mandates this form of school choice. Thank GWB.

LBc wrote:

So...these youths don't live in the Lakewood or Wilson High areas.....the district needs to do away with school of choice and send students to school where they live. Having friends that went to Wilson and friends that work at Lakewood ...I get the feeling that teachers and staff as well as most students don't feel real safe.......cause if you bring attention to these types you are picking on them......and gosh.....there always seems to be a conection to FOOTBALL...maybe we should take alook at the way we coach football.....everyone knows business deals are made on the golf course.

[Rick]

Last weeks posts were blaming Poly for the murder and assumed the killer(s) were Poly students. Isn't it ironic the shooter is a former Wilson High student? And these same posts were saying LBPD would never solve this crime. Just goes to show you that you should not rush to judgement.

[rip melody ross]

In that picture standing next to Jabaris memorial thats not tom and its tom vincent

[SSDD]

Health care reform must include obligatory sterilization. No more breeding of societal cancers(OF ANY RACE). Just offer a lump sum of money to have the operation and problem is solved!!They will need to close down prisons in 20 years for lack of use.

[Long Beach Sucks]

Was he fighting w the Rolling 20s ?

[JAYVEE]

IN TOTAL SHOCK !
i went to middle school with these boys .
and i wouldve never thought they would do this .
i feel so bad for the family and friends or Melody
these boys were so fun and cool that no one would
ever imagine them to do this .
damm . this is really crazy .

thiss kept me speechless .

[Brian]

Peace wrote:

Lakewood needs to get out of the Moore League and the LBUSD before it to is a sewer city.

A bit too late for that. Been to the Mall lately?

[LB Parent TOO]

LB Parent wrote:

The parent(s) of these thugs should be responsible for this action too, how are you not knowing what your kids are doing..not going to school, carrying guns, gang involved...Parent(s) you should be ashamed of yourself!!

OKAY perfect "LB Parent", slow your roll. I too am a parent, and so far I've been lucky enough to keep up and be deeply involved in my childs life that we haven't been faced with any law enforcement encounters or incidents. Not all parents are able to do what it takes to keep their child from making wrong decisions in life. You know that old saying ..."You can lead the horse to the water, but you can't make im drink". Then again, show me one perfect parent that does. I know speaking from statistical viewing, that the youth that are straight A students and hang out with the popular most likely to succeed crowd, dont usually kill anybody other than themselves. I say this because they are so stressed out from their parents trying to keep them on a pedalstool and please everyone else, they are miserable inside and struggle with their own identity. Not only am I a parent, but I work in a facility to where troubled teens like these two boys are often housed. So, without knowing the background of these boys or their parents, who the HELL are you to judge their parenting skills? Oh, Im not justifying what they did was right, because a few years ago, my child was a victim to a crime one of these youths' friends committed which landed him in Juvenile Hall (may he rest in peace today). Kids will be kids and unless you know all of the history surrounding the cases of each individual youth, Shut the hell up!!! Behavior is learned, so therefore, make sure you are that perfect role model you so desire to be for your own children. Hopefully they will benifit from it. By the way, when was the last time you checked your childs my space, listened to their phone conversations in detail, conducted a background check on the children your child hangs out with, or better yet, the parents of your childrens friends? Have you ever conducted a room search of your childs room or belongings? ever gone through their back pack or school locker? When you cover all of these areas in your childs everyday life and find things you never suspected they would say or do, then you let me know what kind of a parent you are!!! Good luck competing with the friends they are more so influenced by, you know the ones>>>>>> >> the ones they spend more time with when you are at work! By the way.......every one in your family and extended family ever make wrong decisions in life? How were their parents teaching skills? My advice to you.......open your closet door before you decide to look inside some one elses. Have a good life!!!

[Think Positive]

Unfortunately, we all have gang ties, if you live in Long Beach you know gang members, they are the kid next door, the store owner down the street, the guy taking your x-ray at the hospital. Gang members dont dress a certain way anymore, they don't fly their "colors" like they did in the 80's. You have no idea who is a gang member and who isn't.

[Medieval Pundit]

rip melody ross wrote:

In that picture standing next to Jabaris memorial thats not tom and its tom vincent

Yeh, the guy at the Jabari shrine is much better looking than the lug in the school yearbook photo.