In Los Angeles County in 2011, 207 young people were victims of homicide - a statistic that ranks the county's youth homicide rate ninth in the state - a study released March 6 reported.
The year prior, 248 people were killed, according to "Lost Youth: A County-by-County Analysis of 2011 California Homicide Victims Ages 10 to 24.” The annual study by the Violence Policy Center analyzes unpublished California Department of Justice Supplementary Homicide Report data.
In 2011, 631 youths and young adults were killed in California.
Overall, the youth homicide rate in the state is declining, from 31.24 per 100,000 in 2009 to 16.96 per 100,000 in 2011, the study reported.
In Los Angeles County, the number of youths killed in homicides since 2009, the first year the "Lost Youth" study was conducted, has steadily declined.
Los Angeles County's youth homicide rate of 9.55 per 100,000 ranks the area ninth out of 35 counties included in the study. California counties with populations below 25,000 youth and young adults between the ages of 10 to 24 were omitted.
County County Ranking by Rate Number of Homicide Victims Homicide Rate per 100,000 2009 2010 2011 2009 2010 2011 2009 2010 2011 Los Angeles County 6 109 303 248 207 14.61 11.35 9.55
Throughout the state, firearms—usually handguns—are the weapon of choice in youth and young adult homicides, according to the study.
- Of the 625 homicides where the murder weapon could be identified, 83 percent of victims were killed by gunfire. Of these, 73 percent were killed with handguns.
- There were 70 victims (11 percent) killed with knives or other cutting instruments, 11 victims (2 percent) killed with a blunt object, and 8 victims (1 percent) killed by bodily force.
The study also shows that there are vast demographic disparities: in California, young African-Americans are more than 18 times more likely to be murdered than young whites; young Hispanics are more than four times more likely to be murdered than young whites.
- 91 percent of homicide victims ages 10-24 in 2011 were male and 9 percent were female.
- 55 percent were Hispanic, 32 percent black, 8 percent white, 5 percent Asian, and less than one percent were “other.”
The victim-to-offender relationship was identified in just over half of the 631 homicides. In those cases, one-third of victims were killed by someone they knew and more than half were murdered by a stranger. Another 15 percent were gang-motivated slayings.
Across the state, San Joaquin County has the most severe youth violence mortality rate, with 35 homicide victims ages 10 to 24, a rate of 21.29 per 100,000.
