On July 29, 14-year-old basketball star Semaj Miller was gunned down in South Los Angeles.
At six-foot-seven-inches tall, the Compton teenager was expected to go far with the L.A. City Wildcats, an association that helped launch the career of NBA player James Harden.
Now the community is mourning his loss.
"Semaj was such a talented kid who lost his life too soon," Rapper Percy “Master P” Miller, a coach and part-owner of the team, told Cheddar. "We have to stop this senseless killing, gun violence in our community. It's not the police. This is us killing us."
Miller lamented that gun violence is robbing the next generation of its talent, as well as those who could find success and come back and invest in their communities.
"This kid could have been the next LeBron James, could have been the next James Harden," he said. "We'll never get to know how talented this kid could have been."
Stepping outside of the rhetoric used in recent protests against police violence, the rapper said it was the responsibility of citizens to stop the violence in their own communities.
"I know we're out here protesting for Black Lives Matter, but my thing is, 'Okay, our kids matter,'" he said. "This is our future."
Miller didn't outline specific preventive measures but emphasized parenting and education.
"It's got to start in our community. We have to stand up for these kids. We have to protect them. We have to educate them," he said.
The minivan is turning 40 years old this year. While it made up just 1.8 percent of the car market in 2022, that number could begin to tick up, as more families increase interest in the car's advantages. Cheddar News' senior reporter Michelle Castillo takes a deeper look at the minivan's lineage.
Cheddar News correspondent Shannon LaNier rings in the Thai New Year at 11 Tigers in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan. The restaurant is one of the only locations in New York City to celebrate.
Cheddar News correspondent Shannon LaNier rings in the Thai New Year at 11 Tigers in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan. The restaurant is one of the only locations in New York City to celebrate.
Cheddar News correspondent Shannon LaNier rings in the Thai New Year at 11 Tigers in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan. The restaurant is one of the only locations in New York City to celebrate.
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