LA City Council Renews Reward For Information On LADWP Worker's Killing

LOS ANGELES (CNS) - The City Council today reinstated a $50,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of an unidentified assailant who gunned down a Los Angeles Department of Water and Power electrical worker in front of his home last summer.

Akeem “AJ'' Coburn was standing in his driveway near South Vermont Avenue and 135th Street in the Harbor Gateway neighborhood when a person approached and shot him on July 29 last year, Buscaino's office said. The suspect may have arrived in a dark-colored sedan.

“AJ was a part of our city family and his death leaves a hole that can never be filled,'' said Buscaino, who introduced the motion to reinstate the reward, which will be in effect for an additional six months.

“If you have any information, we are begging you to please come forward, even anonymously, to help us solve this horrific and tragic crime,'' the councilman said.

LADWP Transmission and Distribution District Superintendent Vincent Casillas said Coburn was hard-working, ambitious, thoughtful and caring.

“He came to work with a determination to excel and often did so. After completing assigned work, he'd move on to other tasks without being asked. His ambition to become a lineman for the LADWP drove his work ethic,'' Casillas said. “His tragic passing robbed him of a goal he was well on the way to achieving. I have no doubt he would have been a great lineman.''

Coburn had three daughters and a fiancee, Brandie Harris.

“We were not only planning our wedding but planning our future to grow old together. We were building our beautiful blended family, and some lost soul robbed us of our time with him,'' Harris said in a statement provided by Buscaino's office. “I will continue to do anything and everything to honor his name. AJ was such a humble, selfless, and loving man and I miss him so very much! My hope and prayer is that someone would see how this has affected so many lives and come forward so justice can be served!''

People with information about the case are urged to contact South Bureau homicide investigators at 323-786-5111, or during weekends and non-business hours, 1-877-LAPD-24-7.

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