Los Angeles, California: Skipp Townsend Will Not Face Charges, Son Kody Charged in Foreman Murder

Los Angeles County prosecutors said on Friday that Clifford "Skipp" Townsend, one of the best known gang intervention workers in South Los Angeles, will not face criminal charges after his arrest this week. In the same announcement, the district attorney's office charged his son, Kody Townsend, 19, with the murder of Reginald Foreman, a community activist who worked for the elder Townsend's nonprofit, 2nd Call.

A spokesperson for District Attorney Nathan Hochman said late Friday afternoon that no other charges are being filed for anyone else in the case. Attorney Fre'Drisha Dixon, who said she represents Skipp Townsend, said he was released from custody. "There was never any reason for him to have been questioned or held in relation to any crime," Dixon said.

What prosecutors charged on Friday

Prosecutors charged Kody Townsend with one count of murder, one felony count of conspiracy to commit a crime, and one count of possession of a firearm by a felon. The complaint also alleges that he killed Foreman by lying in wait, that he was an active participant in a criminal street gang, and that the murder was carried out to further the activities of the gang. His arraignment will be scheduled for a later date, and he faces life in prison if convicted as charged.

Jeremiah Abdelhameed, 25, was charged with one felony count of accessory after the fact, for allegedly helping Kody Townsend avoid capture. He faces seven years in prison if convicted. The charges against both men are allegations, and neither case has been tested in court.

"This kind of violence has no place in our communities and will not be tolerated," Hochman said in the announcement.

The August shooting on Crenshaw Boulevard

Foreman, 51, was shot on August 6 while working on a streetscape project for 2nd Call. Los Angeles police responded at about 3:15 p.m. to reports of a shooting at Crenshaw Boulevard and 59th Place, where officers found Foreman with a gunshot wound. He died at the scene.

Foreman had worked for years to redirect his own life and then to steer other people away from violence. Skipp Townsend told The LA Local in August that he had known Foreman for three decades, had worked alongside him to broker neighborhood peace agreements, and had hired him at 2nd Call two months before his death.

An arrest that stunned South Los Angeles

Skipp Townsend, 62, was arrested at about 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday outside the 2nd Call office in the 5100 block of Obama Boulevard by detectives from the LAPD Robbery Homicide Division. An LAPD spokesperson said he was booked on suspicion of conspiracy to commit a crime, and jail records showed bail of $2 million. He was held at a county jail in Van Nuys.

The Los Angeles Times reported that four other people were arrested in the same investigation: Lenita Sinna Dee Lewis, 28, Shamond Bennett, 49, Nichole Aaliyah Smith, 23, and Jeremiah Abdelhameed, 25. Under Friday's announcement, only Abdelhameed faces a charge from that group, as an accessory.

The arrest rattled the violence prevention community in South Los Angeles, where Townsend co-founded 2nd Call in 2006 and has spent close to two decades brokering truces and working with people at high risk of violence. Community activist Najee Ali, who has worked alongside Townsend for three decades, said he was shocked and saddened by the allegations against Kody Townsend, and angry that Skipp Townsend was arrested at all.