Victor McElhaney, 21, a jazz student at the University of Southern California, was shot and killed on March 10, 2019, in Los Angeles near Adams Boulevard and Maple Avenue. He was with friends when three or four men in their 20s approached the group and attempted to rob them; McElhaney was shot during the confrontation, taken to a hospital, and died shortly after.

McElhaney had moved to Los Angeles in 2017 to study jazz at USC and was active in the Center for Black Cultural and Student Affairs. He was the son of Oakland City Councilwoman Lynette Gibson McElhaney, who has been publicly vocal about addressing gun violence and carried on her son’s commitment to music and mentoring.

Investigators from the Los Angeles Police Department’s Robbery-Homicide Division arrested 23-year-old Ivan Hernandez, described in reports as a reputed gang member, and charged him with one count of murder and one count of attempted second-degree robbery. The murder charge included special-circumstance allegations of murder during an attempted robbery and murder by an active participant in a criminal street gang, and Hernandez was held without bail pending arraignment. Prosecutors were reported to be considering whether to seek the death penalty.

Did anyone in the area that night see the group or the suspects, or have information about the confrontation near Adams Boulevard and Maple Avenue?