Family still searching for answers 15 years after 22-year-old son killed in South Los Angeles
Fifteen years after their son was fatally shot outside of a party in South Los Angeles, the Hibbert family is still searching for answers in their son's death.
Family members were joined by Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón on Tuesday during a press conference marking the anniversary of the double-killing that occurred back in 2008.
Clifton Hibbert Jr., 22, who was better known by loved ones as Cliff, was an aspiring attorney just two weeks shy of graduation from California State University Northridge. He and a 23-year-old friend, Kenneth Patterson, were fatally shot outside of a celebration they were set to attend in South Los Angeles.
Hibbert and Patterson were dropped off in the 4200 block of South Figueroa Street, where one of their friends is said to have lived. While the driver headed off to find a place to park, Hibbert and Patterson were confronted by a man and a woman and "then the shooting occurs," Los Angeles Police Department Officer Adrian Gonzalez said.
During a press conference on Tuesday, Hibbert's mother Donna Brown, recalled her last interaction with her son in which he told her that he loved her. She said that hearing the "heartbreaking news" of Cliff's death "hit me to the core of my being."
"It was a bullet from a gun in the hands of evil on March the 28th, 2008," Brown said. "It's been 15 years and my son's case is still unsolved ... I'm pleading with the community to take a stand for justice, justice for Cliff, justice for your community, for your loved ones, because it takes a village. It takes a village to keep your community safe."
Ayanna Parker, Hibbert's sister, also spoke on Tuesday, calling the incident a "slaughter," and that it was "very heartbreaking" that her brother was unable to fulfill his dreams. "It really just feels like it was the other day, unfortunately," she said.
"He went to school, he worked hard. He so much wanted to make our community a better place and yet, at age 22, his life was cut short for no reason than being in the wrong place at the wrong time," Gascón said, referring to Hibbert as the "epitome of the American dream" as a first-generation American born to parents from Jamaica.
As they continue to investigate the tragic incident, investigators note that they still have "no fresh leads to pursue at this time."
Anyone with information was urged to contact the LAPD's unsolved crimes unit at (323) 786-5100.
