The murder of Stephanie Kuhen in 1995 in Los Angeles created significant media attention in the United States and lead to crackdowns on Los Angeles street gangs.[1][2]
Around 1:45 AM on September 17, 1995, along Isabel Street in the Cypress Park neighborhood, a street nicknamed "Avenida . . . assecinos," an incorrectly-spelled Spanish phrase meaning "Street of Killers" or "Avenue of the Assassins," members of the "Avenues" gang shot a vehicle containing a family returning from a cookout; according to the prosecution the vehicle made a wrong turn into an alley. A 3-year old girl named Stephanie Kuhen died, and Kuhen's stepfather and younger brother sustained injuries.[2] The perpetrators were arrested and convicted.[3][4][5][6][7][8]
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Several days after the incident, President of the United States Bill Clinton condemned the killing and said that the United States Federal Government would give money to anti-gang efforts.[2] After the Kuhen incident, Mayor of Los Angeles Richard Riordan asked the Criminal Justice Planning Office (CJPO) to create recommendations regarding gang crime. Several months after the Kuhen incident, the task force's suggestions lead to the creation of the Los Angeles City/County Community Law Enforcement and Recovery (CLEAR) program.[7][2]
On August 1, 1997, Edward Ferns, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge, pronounced that 28-year old Anthony Gabriel Rodriguez, 22-year old Manuel Rosales, Jr., and 18-year old Hugo David Gomez would serve 54 years and eight months to life in state prisons. At that point 17-year old Augustin Lizama was to be retried. During the sentencing of the three convicted murderers, Margaret Fregoso, Rodriguez's grandmother, defended him and said that people outside of the court speculated that the Kuhen automobile traveled through the neighborhood so one or more occupants could purchase recreational drugs. Robynn Kuhen, the mother of Stephanie Kuhen, said that her family was trying to find a shortcut home and said that Fregoso's statements were not true. The defense in the trial suggested that the Kuhen family knew the layout of the area and would not have found themselves lost in their car.[5] On Friday, August 29, 1997, Lizama agreed to a plea bargain in which he received a conviction for assault.[9]
Allan Parachini of the American Civil Liberties Union said that the media focused attention on the Kuhen case because the victim was White. George Cotliar, a Los Angeles Times managing editor, said that race was not the reason why the media focused attention on the case. Bill Lord, a director at NBC affiliate KNBC, also stated that race was not a factor in why the media covered the Kuhen case. Laurence Elder, a politically conservative African-American talk show host, stated that law enforcement ignored the gangs in Cypress Park since most of the residents were Hispanic and Black.[10]
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