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In the summer of 1995, 13-year old Isunero Pounds was shot to death in front of his mother in a drive-by shooting in Compton. 15 years later, a jury in a Compton courtroom found gang member Lamont Shepard guilty of the killing.

Isunero Pounds was in front of his home on East Caldwell Street with his mother standing nearby on August 2, 1995. A car drove by and shots were fired, killing Isunero.

Three blocks away, and just seconds before the killing, three male African-Americans were shot at in yet another shooting, striking one.

Compton PD officers investigated the case in 1995 and developed leads, but it was not enough to prosecute the case.

Two weeks later on August 18, there was yet another drive-by shooting in Compton. Suspect Lamont Shepard, also known as "Bam II," was identified fleeing the scene and was arrested by Compton PD officers. Shepard was prosecuted and convicted of that crime.

Shepard was believed to be the same man suspected of murdering Isunero Pounds. Two of the three victims in the other shooting that immediately preceded the murder that day identified Pounds as shooting at them.

15 years ago, a criminal case was filed, charging Shepard with the August 2, 1995 murder attempts and murder. Witnesses in Isurneo Pounds’ murder refused to cooperate, and the case went cold. Based upon what was then available to prosecutors, the murder and other attempt murder charges from August 2, 1995 were therefore dropped.

Meanwhile, Shepard was convicted of the drive-by shooting and murder attempts of August 18, 1995. He was sentenced to two terms of life in prison. He has been in California state prison ever since.

As part of its ongoing effort to methodically reopen unsolved homicide cases, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Cold Case Homicide Detective Joseph Purcell reopened the case of the murder of Isunero Pounds in 2010.

In investigating the case, Detective Purcell discovered in the original Compton PD case file that the suspect had written a letter.

Detective Purcell also found a letter that had been written in 1998. In the letter written to the district attorney's office from prison, Shepard admitted he was guilty of Isunero's murder. Compton police gang detectives interviewed him in prison back in 1998 and incriminating statements were obtained, however, due to complications with witnesses the case was never filed.

Sheriff's Cold Case Homicide Detective Purcell gathered old and new evidence he had discovered, and the case was filed by the Office of the Los Angeles County District Attorney in October of 2010. The preliminary hearing was held in November. Shepard was brought back to Los Angeles County from Corcoran state prison to face a jury, and the jury trial concluded Monday, January 17, 2011.

On Thursday, January 20 , 2011, jurors found Shepard guilty of the murder of 13-year old Isunero Pounds. He will be sentenced at a later court hearing.

"A murder leaves many victims. The families of victims live with the memory of their loss every day," said Captain Mike Parker, Sheriff’s Headquarters Bureau. "The Sheriff's Cold Case Homicide Unit is here to ensure that no homicide case is closed until the murder is solved."


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Lieutenant Wes Sutton
Homicide Bureau - Cold Case Unit
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
(323) 890-5500
www.lasd.org


Captain Mike Parker
Sheriff's Headquarters Bureau
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
(323) 267-4800
www.lasd.org


Leroy D. Baca, Sheriff
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department

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