On August 31, 1984, 13-year-old Damani Osei Garner-Alexander was one of four members of the Alexander family killed in Los Angeles when gunmen opened fire on a house they had mistaken for a rival dealer’s. The other victims were his grandmother, Ebora Alexander, 58; his aunt, Dietra Alexander, 24; and his cousin, Damon Bonner, 8. The assailants were members of the Rollin’ 60s street gang who had the correct house number but were on the wrong block.

Investigators arrested two suspects, Horace Edwin Burns, 20, and Tiequon Cox, 18; both were charged with multiple counts of murder. Police chief Daryl Gates called the killings tragic and senseless, stressing that the Alexander family had no involvement in the local drug wars. The case drew widespread attention in part because Damani was the nephew of former football player Kermit Alexander.

Does anyone have memories of the neighborhood at that time or information that could shed light on how the wrong house came to be targeted?