Man Fatally Shot In Monrovia While Walking Home From Work
MONROVIA (CBSLA.com) — Authorities say a man has been shot and killed in Monrovia early Sunday morning.
The shooting in the 2000 block of Broderick Avenue occurred about 12:30 a.m., according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
Family members of the victim, identified as 18-year-old Malcolm Mency, told CBS2 that he was walking home from his job at the Sonic Drive-In when he was shot. Neighbors heard the shots and dialed 911.
Upon arriving on scene, authorities located Mency, who was taken to a local hospital where he died.
Officials said Mency was shot as many as five times, including once in the head. His family said he had no gang affiliation and was hard-working.
In fact, his job at Sonic was his second job -- he graduated from high school early, had a nursing degree and was interning during the day. The family said he was doing this to make ends meet.
The shooter remained at large. A suspect description was not immediately available, authorities said.
CBS2's Kara Finnstrom spoke to Mency's devastated mother, siblings, step-mother and girlfriend, the mother of their one-month-0ld son.
Through tears and cradling their son, girlfriend Labreonna Moore said, "My baby. Only a month old and his dad is gone."
Mency called Moore moments before he was killed.
"He said, 'I'm going to be home soon' and I said 'I love you,' and he said, 'I love you. And not even ten minutes later he got shot," said Moore.
Mency's mother, Alberta Lockhart, called her son's killer a coward.
"I can't believe my son is gone," she said, "and whoever did this, you're a coward to take someone's life like that. How can you sleep at night?"
Step-mother Roxanna Mency said, "He should never have been shot. He was shot cold-blooded. An innocent boy, he had no weapons on him, nothing."
His family says the neighborhood has been torn apart by gang violence and racial tensions but Malcolm made a point of steering clear of the violence.
One of the victim's nine brothers and sisters stopped by the crime scene to place flowers at a makeshift memorial for Mency.
"So sad to see him gone. He was just trying to do right and whoever did this to him wasn't thinking," said his brother Gabry.
Anyone with information about this case was asked to call the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500. Police said anyone with information can call them and remain anonymous.
