Homicide Report > Update: Conviction and sentencing in racially motivated killing of James Shamp, 48
Update: Conviction and sentencing in racially motivated killing of James Shamp, 48
A little more than a year after the racially motivated killing of James Shamp, a 48-year-old black man, the prosecution of his killers appears to be drawing to a close.
Last week, Richard Bordelon, 22, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, one count each of attempted robbery and conspiracy to commit murder, as well as admitting to special-circumstance allegations of drive-by murder, racial killing and that he was an active gang member at the time of the offense, according to Deputy Dist. Atty. Daniel Akemon of the Hardcore Gang Division.
The defendant confessed that the victim was killed because he was African American, officials with the district attorney's office said. Los Angeles police sources said the case was part of a larger series of incidents in which Latino gang members in the West Valley threatened blacks and sprayed racist graffiti.
At Bordelon’s March 24 appearance, Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Martin Herscovitz sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus 47 years to life. The judge also ordered Bordelon to pay $14,386 in restitution for burial expenses and mental-health costs incurred by the victim’s family.
According to police, Shamp, a husband and father of two, was taking out the trash at his job in Winnetka on Dec. 22, 2008, when a car carrying Latino gang members pulled up. A group of men approached him and shot him in the chest. Friends heard the shots and ran outside, where they found Shamp lying face down. He was taken to the hospital, where he later died from his injuries.
The same evening, authorities made three arrests in connection to Shamp's death — Bordelon; Martin Sotelo, 25; and a juvenile.
Sotelo, the alleged driver of the getaway vehicle, is awaiting trial. The district attorney’s office has not decided whether to seek the death penalty. Sotelo is currently being held at the Twin Towers jail in downtown Los Angeles.
The juvenile conspirator admitted a juvenile petition for conspiracy to commit murder and was sentenced to a Division of Juvenile Justice facility.
An additional arrest in the case was made May 21, 2009, according to district attorney officials. LAPD Topanga officers arrested Orlando Perez, a 25-year-old Latino, who was then charged as accessory after the fact to murder. Perez, of Canoga Park, pleaded no contest and admitted a gang association. He was sentenced to three years and four months in state prison. He is being held at the California Rehabilitation Center in Norco.
— Sarah Ardalani
Follow the Homicide Report on Twitter @latimeshomicide.
Posted: March 30, 2010 at 1:04 p.m.
Updated: March 30, 2010 at 1:33 p.m.
21 reader comments
Its funny that Latino so-called gang members target Blacks.But the real issue is that White people dominate the Valley and other areas but don't get touched.If you are really killers target the one's who make the money and cause the real problems. Oh I forgot you guys are cowards
March 30, 2010 at 2:38 p.m.
How come the gang that Bordelon belonged too were not arrested and charged with him?
The black and Latino communities should demand RICO prosecutions for gangs.
March 30, 2010 at 2:58 p.m.
As an African American woman and native of Los Angeles, this is very disturbing to me. Why do Latinos think that they are better than anyone else? African Americans have long been the target of our fellow Caucasian Americans. The Civil Rights Movement, brought some peace. Now we have to fight for the rights, to live, work, and the pursuit our happiness with some lowlife Latino gang bangers, whose parents are probably illegal aliens. They need to get a history book, and understand whose blood, sweat and tears, built this nation, because it wasn't theirs!
March 30, 2010 at 4:52 p.m.
kimela, do you honestly think that Latino gangsters care about the history of black Americans?
March 30, 2010 at 5:30 p.m.
Killing anyone is senseless. Killing someone because of the color of their skin is despicable. It's sad that in the year 2010 people are still killing people along racial lines.
Don't let these hateful acts of violence infiltrate your hearts and minds. Most people of all races, colors and creeds are good people. It only takes a few morons to ignite fear and hatred in a city. We are better than that.
Let's all be better citizens. Be kind to one another, smile, open doors for each other, say hello, say excuse me, always show respect to each other, look out for each other and we will all be alright.
My heart goes out to the poor soul who was gunned down by some misguided idiots who were over come with hate.
Don't let the HATE poison your heart!
March 30, 2010 at 6:13 p.m.
it`s really sad to see African Americans and Latinos shoot each other .... It doesn`t make any sense..... What are we fighting for? What is the GLORY For shooting a man .We are all Human here and GOD Put everyone on this earth , But its up to the people to change the way society Acts.. GUNS GUNS AND GUNS..... There are a lot of changes that need to be made on earth,,, We should all open are hearts up and show love... Its easy to shoot people but so Hard TO LOVE PEOPLE... ... We gotta stop the violence..
March 30, 2010 at 7:07 p.m.
Matthew James, before hope can blossom, gangs must be removed from law abiding society.
Just as a doctor cuts away cancer from healthy tissue, so must we hound and chase the gangs from our midst. And that means hard choices must be made by the black and Latino communities.
Hatred is not a poison for the heart when it directed at sociopaths.
March 30, 2010 at 8:32 p.m.
well gangs are part of la culture love it or hate it(if you hated the n leave out of la ) anyways blacks are known to be a violent race compare to race such as latino n whites but yea he shouldnt had gotten kill he looks like a nice civilian ...
March 30, 2010 at 8:53 p.m.
kimela! please cut it out The black victims card is over if u havent noticed theres a black president,U talk about history books u should be thank full the caucasions brought you guys as slaves. because if not for them u guys would of never new what america was.It's not like u could catch the 5 north to the 710 and get here like all the mexicans due!
March 30, 2010 at 11:12 p.m.
It's dumbass gang banging idiots like this that give hard working hispanics a bad name. Don't blame hispanics, blame the low life "cholos" commiting these racial crimes.
March 30, 2010 at 11:50 p.m.
@james howard wow how can you say <blacks are from a violent race" so i assuming by your name your a white guy. so you mean to tell me that whites are not violent? whites dont kill? whites dont steal? how do you think whites so called built this country? by killing and stealing and inslaving another race and keeping a race down with violence!
so i take offence to you saying that,the violence you see is the violence that has been used against us as a people so now the rosters has come home! it kills me when i hear comments like that and what kills me even more is how whites forget about all the killing stealing and raping your race has done! lmao stupid comment man just stupid! no race is perfect not mine and by no means yours!
March 30, 2010 at 11:58 p.m.
James, what do you mean hes a civilian? Unless you're in the military, WE ARE ALL CIVILIANS!!!
DWGM, no rational person blames all Latino's for this crime. There's sociopaths in all races that the finger can be pointed at. The only unusual thing I can think of is the near complete absence of white on black crime. Its overwhelmingly black or Latino related crimes. Often committed by the same sociopaths.
And just as Martin Luthar King proclaimed "I have a dream"; so to do I dream that one day the black and Latino communities slam down the gangs and live normal peaceful lives.
March 31, 2010 at 7:16 a.m.
ALL these ignorant racist comments people should be keeping to themselves. I am a Latino, and there are plenty of things I can't stand that African americans do (other races, even my race). I can say plenty of bad things done by them too. But I'm not going to because its pointless. NO ONE is perfect. Negativity breeds negativity. What happened to this man was wrong plain and simple. He was an innocent victim, and I offer my condolences to the victim's family. @kimela: By the way Latino's helped build this country too. Oh, and I have read my history books, many of them. Have you? "Speaking without thinking is like shooting without an aim."
March 31, 2010 at 9:09 a.m.
It's actually BOTH minoritys Black/Brown that contribute to the negatism and violence that takes place on the streets. You can't be impartial to one and not the other. Both sides have hard working citizens that are enraged by the ignorance. We have ALL been oppressed in some type of fashion. If you endulge in more then just Black History, u will see that there was struggle for Latinos as well. You can't be so once track minded w/ issues such as these and become a part of the blame game. These two specific minoritys have been brain washed. Sadly, We suffer from the same struggle, but yet its these two minoritys we see as frequent victims of Homicide.
March 31, 2010 at 9:26 a.m.
syscom3, I would just stop talking if I were you... your claims can easily be refuted by your worst nightmare! A person of color that received a higher education and WILL point out the ways in which people of color are kept in check.
March 31, 2010 at 11:36 a.m.
As a latino legal american 5th generation,I see black and hispanics put in one spot were there are no jobs,minimum education,and a lack of hope for a future,but that is just an excuse,you can get out and be a good citizen and honable person,it's kind of weird,blacks are using the race card alot and happen to be the most raciest,both races leaders should stop using the race card and us there influence to bring jobs to there sectors,and if not have the responsiblity to leave and get your family out of that situation,because unless you do,your family's misfortunes will repeat themselves.
March 31, 2010 at 2:09 p.m.
I can't believe how the 2 races that are at the bottom of the totom pole, are falling into the trap that have been laid for them from the time the white man stepped foot on america soil, they stole the land they enslaved blacks, latinos, and indians, and these races are a threat to them, so they really like the fact that the two races are killing each other either by blacks v latinos or blacks v blacks, or latinos v latinos, come on people wake up...
March 31, 2010 at 5:32 p.m.
Soreal, just what white people are holding you back? And what white people enjoy the violence and carnage?
The violence in the black and Latino communities are self inflicted. It is the people in those communities that create the conditions for failure and dysfunction. Its the people in those communities that vote in the same set of do nothing buffoons that do nothing and seem to actively work to make things worse.
Before the blame is set to other races on the many myriad problems in these neighborhoods, its time for them to look in the mirror and see whom is truely to blame.
March 31, 2010 at 7:37 p.m.
syscom3 sometimes you tell the truth...but in the truth there's always some lies.
April 1, 2010 at 5:10 a.m.
Anyone that celebrates, advocates, and defend murders, are just as guilty, there is no excuse, only the fact that lashing out is the result of fear or intimidation.
Reluctance of competing on a level playing field, in essence it is cheating, and we all know there is no honor in cheating, and where there is no honor there is no pride. So, for those PRIDE mongers, your actually priding loosing, cheating, not victory from competing.
When your child does good in school, there is honor from competing and overcoming the challenge of not knowing, and we can all be proud in that, but to kill a person over a street you will never own, the color of a persons clothes, or the color of someones skin, is not a victory at all, in this case, one black man lost his life, and 3 Latino's lost theirs, because they will never get back the opportunities that were available to them, before the cowardly act.
April 1, 2010 at 5:58 a.m.
It's messed up to see any type of murder of innocents....but blaming any race for this isn't the answer. It's the gangs!
Looking at history, for all you blaming whites, whites had "gangs" too back in the day. If you count mafia's and mobs as the organized crime like the street gangs of today....gangs need to be cracked down upon, and education needs to become more common...california's system here is terrible, and there are too many drop outs.
April 1, 2010 at 2:39 p.m.
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