Teen Gunned Down in Empty Lot Had Gang Ties

The Los Angeles Police Department believes the 17-year-old Latino boy in an empty lot near the 12100 block of Lull Street in North Hollywood on July 13 was involved in a gang.

"It depends on your definition of 'gang related.' We don't know if [the shooting was] gang related, but [Carmona] had prior gang association," Det. Pat Behren of the Los Angeles Police Department Foothill Division said. "It doesn't appear that it was a drive-by or anything like that."

The victim, Bryan Carmona, was not enrolled in any high school and was not living with his family, according to Behren. Behren would not say how many times Carmona was shot, only stipulating that it was more than once and with a small-calibre weapon. He also would not say if anyone called the police the night Carmona died to report hearing gunfire.

Carmona was found in a vacant lot containing several retaining walls littered with graffiti at the end of the cul-de-sac of Lull Street, which is lined with one-story houses. The lot separates the neighborhood from a row of industrial buildings and apartment complexes along Laurel Canyon Boulevard just north of the intersection with Saticoy Street.

Police believe Carmona was likely shot the night before but it wasn't until the next day around 11 a.m. on July 13 that someone finally spotted Carmona's body and called 911. The evidnece suggests he was shot in the lot and that the body was not moved. The motive for the killing is unknown.