The casket of Bell Gardens Mayor Daniel Crespo. Randy Economy Photo
By Randy Economy
(Bell Gardens, CA) The murder
of Bell Gardens Mayor Daniel Crespo continues to haunt the subdued halls of
City Hall, homes and businesses across this small working class bedroom
community that is located outside of shadows of Downtown Los Angeles.
It also
haunts me.
Daniel
Crespo was my friend, a very close friend and confidant.
On
September 20, I got a phone call from Robert Kovacik who works with NBC
LA. Robert was on jury duty when he
called me that particular afternoon. I had been
in a major car accident a couple of weeks earlier and had suffered tremendous
soft tissue damage in my rib cage and back and deep bruises. I was racked up and lucky to be alive.
Robert
asked me if I had heard that Daniel had “been shot.”
Shot?
Daniel, Crespo? Huh?
My life
blurred. I turned on Channel 4; a photo of
“Crespo” (as so many of us called him) was on the screen with the graphic words,
“Bell Gardens Mayor Shot.”
The next
several minutes turned into an hour, an American Mayor had been murdered and
his wife (Lyvette) was named as the person who pulled the trigger and their
19-year-old son was apparently in the same room when it all took place.
Today
marks one month since Daniel Crespo was murdered.
Still, no
one has been charged.
No one has
been held accountable.
The media
is going “cold” on this case, except for me.
I, for one, will be dedicating my energy to follow each detail of Daniel’s
death and to see how the American Justice System is going to work, or fail here.
The LA
Times had a front-page splash on the case this week. It made the front page. I applaud the LA
Times for the ink.
I attended
Daniel’s funeral at Rose Hills. It was bizarre, it was surreal and it was
something I will never forget and what took place at that funeral was shocking
for those of us who witness what unfolded.
I will be documenting each detail of this case
for the next several weeks, months, or years for that matter.
You don’t
shoot someone seven times just because your having a bad day.
There is
more to be revealed.
 |
| I took this photo of Mayor Daniel Crespo just a few weeks before he was murdered at a park in Bell Gardens. |
I am going
to stick to the facts.
I am
working on a documentary, a book for sure on the case.
Today I
will pause and remember my friend Daniel Crespo, and so should every member of
the media and the community of Bell Gardens.
(Note: If
you would like to talk to me more about this case, and if you are one of my
friends in the media who is covering this case, feel free to drop me a note at RREconomy@aol.com or call me on my cell
phone at 562 743-0882).
1 comment:
I would like to hear directly from my readers about the death of Bell Gardens Mayor Daniel Crespo. Please leave a comment below....
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