Kevin Lamarr Martin Sr., 45, was shot on November 12, 2015 while standing in the driveway outside his Doty Avenue apartment in Hawthorne with a cousin. A man drove up and began shooting; both men were taken to a nearby hospital. Martin was placed on life support and died the following day. His cousin survived with a gunshot wound to the arm.

Investigators later linked the shooting to a suspected perpetrator identified as 64-year-old John Revels of Lancaster, who was seen leaving the Hawthorne scene in a gold-colored Jaguar. Revels then allegedly continued a violent spree that included the shooting of his brother, Paul Revels, in Exposition Park, and the killing of his girlfriend, Cornelia Adrienne McIntosh, at their Lancaster home. Revels shot himself when officers stopped him after a flat tire on the 15 Freeway. Authorities have said Martin and Revels were acquaintances but the exact nature of their relationship and the motive remain unclear. Martin was the primary caregiver for his disabled mother, who was inside the apartment during the shooting.