HOW THE KIDS FEEL ABOUT LOSING LATERIAN – L.T. – the friend, brother, cousin they looked up too; And the words his Basketball Coach spoke at his Funeral; Please see earlier post about a public candlelight vigil being planned

Dear Readers: I’ve compiled some writings from students about their loss of Laterian Tasby, 17, a San Pedro High student who had given them hope about changing their own lives when he became a school leader and played football and basketball for the high school.

Students have said he influenced them with his friendliness and caring and provided them with a role-model – showing them anyone’s path can change if they want it too. He had moved here during his sophomore year to get away from the violence in his past neighborhoods and had changed his life before he was recently shot at a party the weekend before Halloween.

The students names have been changed for their own protection. Here is what they wrote:

--When I found out, I just died,” wrote Ron, a 13-year-old Dana Middle School student. “I asked what happened and when they told me he was shot I started to cry. I didn’t want to be the only one crying, so I held it in. I listened to everybody, like his girlfriend, his brother, and the kids that really loved him. It hurt me really badly; I wish I could have died with him. I will always remember him as the Empire State Building. …I thought he was strong as a boulder, but I guess I found out that he was not as strong as a boulder.

--“We have all suffered a great loss, so we have to be strong,” wrote Joe, a 15-year-old San Pedro High male student. “We cannot be weak. We cannot show our vulnerability. To all the people out there I know, I love you so much cuz’ you really don’t know when God will take you. Unfortunately, we lost one who is not a gang member!!! He was a young man trying to turn his life around. To everyone I say: “Please stop this violence.”

--“I miss L.T. because he was so funny. I can’t believe he is gone. He was a good friend and he will always live in our hearts. I really miss him because I used to talk to him about all my problems. L.T. I will miss you. Please look over our backs,” 14-year-old San Pedro High youth.

--Laterian Tasby was such a great guy,” wrote Candy, 14-year-old San Pedro High student. “We called him L.T., but I loved his name so I called him Laterian. He was such a good person and he always made me laugh. For the record, he was not a gang member. He used to be in trouble, but he changed his life around….He had dreams of going to USC….What happened to him was the worst thing ever. He didn’t deserve it at all. At the Boys and Girls Club, we are one big family. Now that Laterian is dead, its like our family members are dead.”

READ AT HIS FUNERAL

By A High School Student:

L.T.
SATURDAY NIGHT TRAGEDY STRUCK
LOST ANOTHER SOLDIER TO GUN POWDER SHUCKS!
ANOTHER MOTHER LOSES HER BABY BOI
ANOTHER BROTHER LOSES HIS PRIDE AND JOY
A GROUP OF FRIENDS STANDING TOGETHER IN TEARS
AFRAID TO WALK THE STREETS OUR MINDS COVERED IN FEARS
WHO WILL BE NEXT WE ASK OURSELVES
WHEN WILL THEY LEARN TO PUT THE VIOLENCE BACK ON THE SHELVES
YET AGAIN WE PAY MONEY FOR A SWEATER WITH HIS FACE,
A LITTLE MESSAGE HIS BIRTHDATE AND 3 LETTERS TO TAKE HIM TO HIS FINAL RESTING PLACE
WE'LL NEVER BE ABLE TO LAUGH WITH HIM
OR DANCE WITH HIM
OR BE NEXT TO HIM
BUT PLEASE REMEMBER HE FOREVER REMAINS WITHIN
L.T. BABY BOI YOUR FOREVER MISSED
SHINE YOUR LIGHT UPON US WITH LAUGHTER AND BLISS
I ALWAYS SAID YOU WERE AS TALL AS HEAVEN AND NOW YOU PROVED IT, DON'T WORRIE ABOUT US TOGETHER WE'LL GET THRU IT
WE ALL NEED TO BE AS ONE AND HOLD EACHOTHER CLOSE
STAND IN UNITY AND PRAYER ITS SHOWS,
THAT WE ARE SOLDIERS NO MAN IS LEFT BEHIND
WHEN ONE OF US IS LOST WE HELP HIM TO FIND
THE LIGHT THE SILVER LINING THAT WAY HE GOES ON
IN OUR HEARTS AND MEMORIES SHINES BRIGHT LIKE THE SUN
IT'S NOT FAIR IT'S NOT RIGHT BUT IT HAS TO BE DONE
SOMETIMES WE CAN'T ALWAYS HAVE FUN
IT'S A MESSED UP SITUATION TO HAVE TO BURY A FRIEND
BUT NO MATTER HOW PAINFUL IT GETS HE'S FOREVER WITH US TILL THE END




FAREWELL TO LT

My name is John Bobich and I had the privilege to coach LT as he played basketball for San Pedro High School. My greatest memory of LT was when we were driving home from the Palm Springs basketball tournament this summer. We had a successful tournament. LT played well and I had the opportunity to drive LT back to town along with my wife and my 3 year old son. One would figure the conversation would revolve around LT and how well he did. But not LT. He sat in the back and the whole way home. LT constantly would crack jokes until he got a laugh from my son. He would then ask my son question after question until he got an answer. This went on over the course of the 2 and 1/2 hour trip. On that afternoon LT made a three year old the most important person on earth. And to me that's what made LT, LT. It was about others. In our conversations he was worried about pleasing his Mom, his Aunt, his Uncle and his brothers and sisters. To me this is what made LT so special.

Over the course of the past few days I find myself asking "Why?" Why does this young man lose his life after all the hard work he's done to turn his life around. I find myself angry. Here's a young man who was making a difference in so many ways. As a son, nephew, a friend, a student, and an athlete. Why does his life have to end so early? Well, last night I came to see LT at the viewing and I had received some answers. I witnessed so much love, support and compassion from many of you that sit here today. Love that we don't often see in this hectic world of ours. I also felt peace. And this is what LT stood for. He brought these great qualities in the people that he encountered.

If there was ever a conflict at school I could always go to LT and he would find a way to keep peace on our campus. He would step up and say, "Hey guys, just let it be. It's just not worth it." Today we mourn the passing of LT as his physical presence will no longer be with us. It hurts and for me it's really hard to accept. We look around town and see signs, pictures, and shirts that keep LT's spirt alive. One day there will be no shirts, no pictures, and no signs. But there will be many of the people in here keeping LT's spirt alive in the greatest way possible. Simply by doing the right thing. We will all have an opportunity. There will be situations that arise and we must remember LT and think. We will keep LT's spirit alive every time we step up and say, "Just let it be. It just not worth it." It could be with a friend, a foe or one day your spouse. We must learn to keep things in perspective. For you younger people who were so close to LT. I promise you years from now you will know LT made a difference in your life. Every time you make a friend or even a stranger feel better by stepping up and making a difference. If there 3 years old or 93. And you'll remember that's something LT taught me because that's what LT was about. Let's all make a promise to LT that we will make sure his death didn't go in vain. We will all make this world a better place by following LT's lead. God Bless you LT. I will never forget you.

PUBLIC CANDLELIGHT VIGIL BEING PLANNED TO HELP COMBAT SORROW OVER HUGE LOSS OF PIRATE FOOTBALL PLAYER – L.T. -- GUNNED DOWN AT PARTY WHILE TRYING TO PROTECT HIS FRIENDS: No. 85

By Diana L. Chapman

Over the past four months, two San Pedro High football players, one who just graduated and lived to tell his story, and another who was enjoying himself at “an athletes” party have been ruthlessly shot in our coastal town.
In the first incident, last August, an 18-year-old former Pirate survived a hail of bullets that ripped through his torso while sitting on porch with friends on a hot summer night. (That made about two lines in the press.)
The second incident, at a party the weekend before Halloween, had an even more tragic end. A SPHS football and basketball player, Laterian Tasby (L.T.), 17, died from a single shot to the chest after he “fought like a soldier” to protect his friends, a Boys and Girls Club staff official said.
The two events—both gang-related—have left me deflated. Neither boy belonged to a gang Both were respected athletes, fully immersed in the sports culture of their community.
A public candlelight vigil for Laterian is planned for the week of Nov. 12 (times and dates will be announced). Mona Sutton, co-owner of the Omelette and Waffle Shop, is organizing the event along with April Black, an official from Toberman. Los Angeles Habor Boys and Girls Club director, Mike Lansing, and Los Angeles Councilwoman Janice Hahn has agreed to speak.
It’s the first time I can remember a vigil in honor of a student killed like this in San Pedro. When Mona called me about it, I was thankful that at last someone was doing something to honor our young people—no matter what part of town they live in.
I consider Mona a “great equalizer,” a leader who has the ability to pull us together so we can grieve publicly over this tragic loss.
Others at the party, a mix of San Pedro High school and some college students, included another SPHS football player who was injured along with three other teenagers. All four have since recovered from bullet or stab wounds.
While I didn’t know Laterian well, I know probably half the kids who attended the party. Several are leaders at the Boys and Girls Club along with several other achieving San Pedro High students. Many of the teens spend much of their time in that family atmosphere at the club – striving to stay away from gangs and using the club as their safe haven. Most of them were on track for college, explained a staff member involved closely with the students, who asked not to be named.
Two of my friends children scrambled out of the house after Laterian was shot shortly before midnight. When I went to the Boys and Girls Club Wednesday afternoon for my weekly writer’s workshop, I watched young men and women stream back from Laterian’s funeral. Some were stoic, others were in tears, but it made me realize they were wondering about their own tomorrow, their own future. How could they not be? One of their closest friends, a popular leader, a peacekeeper at both the high school and club, was shot before their eyes.
About a year ago, two teenage friends – one black, the other Latino – were shot outside the Boys and Girls Club on Fifth Street. Why? The Latino boy had refused to join a gang and had befriended an African-American. Both were “taught a lesson” for hanging out together, club officials told me.
Laterian, who stood 6-foot-6, was called a “monster” by some because of his size. He tried to protect his friends from the alleged suspects who infiltrated the party apparently toting guns and knives.
The suspects allegedly made racial remarks and punched and stabbed one of the club members, which prompted the brawl.
“People are still trying to justify it as though Laterian was in a gang,” explained. a club official who said Laterian had moved in with his aunt and uncle for his sophomore year to escape from the violence where he grew up. “It was just supposed to be a small party for athletes. This should never have happened.”
Laterian was African-American, as is the teenager shot in August.
The popular football player had turned his life around and was making headway with his grades –achieving a C average so he could pursue college. College scouts were coming to see him play and his future looked bright and promising.
His horrific story came on the heels of the former Pirate player shot when he was hanging out with friends shortly before midnight Aug. 2 on the front porch of a house in the 900 block of Santa Cruz Street. I’m withholding his name at the request of police.
My friend’s son, now in college, had just left when four African-Americans pulled over and asked the former player for directions. Then they shook his hand, but one of the suspects held on tightly. A gun appeared, and the victim was shot multiple times in the torso, elbow and leg.
The suspects fled while his friends rushed him to the emergency room, where he miraculously survived.
When I bumped into him later at a going away party, I had no idea who he was. I just saw a cast on his arm and asked what happened. He told me he had been shot, but wasn’t sure why. He dismissed any racial overtones, although he was hanging out with Latino friends. He was dumbfounded he was alive.
So am I.
I never thought San Pedro would turn out this way with our kids dying in the streets. In the past, people I talked to dismissed these incidents because it wasn’t their kid. Their kid would never be caught in that situation. Now, I realize that if we believe this, we’re living in a dream world.
Police Commander Pat Gannon, a San Pedro native who is in charge of homicides and gang details in the LAPD’s southern region, said parents need to be more vigilant.
Parents must no longer allow their children to go to parties, no matter where they are. It takes only a couple of knuckleheads crashing a party to turn it into a dangerous event.
“There’s the way the world should be, and then there’s the way it is,” Pat told me. “Kids should be able to go to parties. It’s part of the fun. But today it’s a recipe for disaster. There are mean, nasty people out there, and unfortunately a couple of them ended up at that party and it became life-altering. It’s just tragic.”
Although he has no magic solution, he said parents should look for red flags such as a party “everyone is talking about” that could grow too large and unwieldy. Perhaps, parents need to organize parties in safe locations.
I was hit with the news of Laterian’s death just after returning from vacation. I felt like I’d been punched in the stomach, because I knew the emotional roller coaster the kids at the Boys and Girls Club would be on—having watch one of their own become such a success story gives them hope and makes them strive that much harder.
In an attempt to help them heal – whatever that can possibly mean – I asked them to write about L.T. There’s not much else I can do, except ask you to show you’re support. Attend the candlelight vigil.
It’s the only way as a community we can show we care for our kids – all of the kids in our community –and let gang members know we demand peace for our children.
Police are looking for help in both investigations. Call (310) 522-2021 if you have any information.