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Faustina Bartsch
Latasha Harlins was born January 1, 1976,[5][6] in East St. Louis, Illinois, to Crystal Harlins and Sylvester "Vester" Acoff Sr. Latasha had one younger brother, Vester Acoff Jr., and one younger sister, Christina. The family moved from Illinois to South Central Los Angeles in 1981. In 1982, when Latasha was six years old, her father took a job in a steel foundry while her mother worked as a waitress in a local tavern. They lived near 89th St. and Broadway, just a few blocks from where Latasha would be killed ten years later.[7][8]
Soon Ja Du's store, Empire Liquor, was located at the intersection of West 91st Street and South Figueroa Street, Vermont Vista, Los Angeles,[11] and was normally staffed by Du's husband and son. However, on the morning of the shooting, Du was working behind the counter, and her husband was outside resting in the family van.[12]
Soon Ja Du testified on her own behalf, claiming that the shooting was in self-defense and that she believed her life was in danger. But her testimony was contradicted by the statements of the two witnesses present at the time, as well as the store's security camera video, which showed Du shooting Harlins in the back of the head as she turned away from Du and attempted to leave the store.[18] The Los Angeles Police Department ballistics report also found that the handgun Du used was altered in such a way that it required much less pressure on the trigger to fire than an ordinary handgun.[17]
On November 15, 1991, a jury found that Du's decision to fire the gun was fully within her control and that she fired the gun voluntarily. The jury found Du guilty of voluntary manslaughter, an offense that carries a maximum prison sentence of 16 years. However, the trial judge, Joyce Karlin, sentenced Du to five years of probation, 10 years of suspended prison, 400 hours of community service, and payment of a $500 fine and Harlins' funeral costs.[19][20][21]
Judge Karlin suggested that there were mitigating circumstances in the killing of Harlins. She stated, "Did Mrs. Du react inappropriately? Absolutely. But was that reaction understandable? I think that it was." Karlin added, "this is not a time for revenge... and no matter what sentence this court imposes Mrs. Du will be punished every day for the rest of her life." The court also stated that Du shot Harlins under extreme provocation and duress and deemed it unlikely that Du would ever commit a serious crime again.[22] Furthermore, Karlin deemed that Du's capacity to act rationally in the situation was undermined by her experience with past robberies.[citation needed]
The incident and reduced sentencing by the court exacerbated the existing tensions between African-American residents and Korean-American merchants in South Central Los Angeles. Those tensions were later interpreted by some members of the public and activists as being one of the catalysts for the 1992 Los Angeles riots. The Los Angeles mayor's office estimated that 65 percent of all businesses vandalized during the riots were Korean-owned.[25][26][27] On August 17, 1991, while Du was awaiting trial, a small fire occurred at her store.[28]
After the widely publicized shooting of Latasha Harlins, relations between the black and Korean communities continued to deteriorate rapidly.[30] Despite intervention from leaders of both communities, the time after the death of Latasha Harlins was characterized by boycotts, tense debate, bitterness, Molotov cocktails, and more convenience store murders.[30] However, while tensions had exponentially increased because of the killing of Harlins, they were built on existing conflict that had been present in the community.[31]
Korean immigrant shop-owners had a growing presence in black communities since before the 1970s.[32] Since then, they had been a target of anger from both black shop-owners and black customers, with incompatible claims from either group that say Korean shop-owners "undercut prices" by the shop-owners and that they overcharged customers.[33]
In 1984, seven years before Harlins was shot, an editorial was posted in a black community newspaper urging a boycott of Korean stores, saying that any black person who went to their stores was a 'traitor'. Korean immigrants bought their storefronts in black neighborhoods, specifically South Los Angeles, because the real estate was significantly cheaper than other neighborhoods. The distrust ran possibly even further, because in the same editorial the writer exclaims, "The real question is, why was my brother's brains blown out fighting for those Koreans?" in reference to the Korean War.[32] Further, the stereotypes of the two groups were a source of contention, with black people often being labeled as economically "dependent," while Koreans and other Asians were often labeled economically self-sufficient.[34]
The killing of Harlins was one of many events in Los Angeles that may have led to the riots in 1992. In the eyes of many in the Black community, it was a grave injustice that Soon Ja Du did not receive any jail time for her crime.[30] While the jury convicted Du of manslaughter, which normally carries a maximum of 16 years in prison, the judge, Joyce Karlin, commuted her sentence to five years of probation, 10 years of suspended prison, 400 hours of community service, and payment of a $500 fine and Harlins' funeral costs. This angered many in the black community. After the verdict in Rodney King's case was delivered, massive riots ensued in Los Angeles.[40]
Karlin's rulings in the case prompted Los Angeles County District Attorney Ira Reiner to instruct his deputies to effectively bar Judge Karlin from trying cases by invoking a statute to remove a judge for any reason. In justifying his directive, he said "[t]his was such a stunning miscarriage of justice that Judge Karlin cannot continue to hear criminal cases with any public credibility."[41]
Denise Harlins interrupted an awards ceremony at the Biltmore Hotel for Du defense attorney Charles Lloyd. Karlin and Du's son also attended that ceremony. "All you people sitting, applauding over a child killer," Harlins yelled. "Latasha was defenseless. She didn't do nothing!"[42][44] After Denise Harlins was removed from the ballroom, Karlin gave a speech, stating "There are those in the community who demand that we define justice by what is politically correct. I think that we must unanimously reject such demands ... What's politically correct today may not be politically correct tomorrow or the next day. But what is justice today is justice always. ... I for one am sick and tired of less than five percent of this community trying to tell the rest of us what to do, what to think, and what to say."[45][46] Karlin was re-elected to the Superior Court bench by a reduced margin from previous elections. She then moved to Juvenile Dependency Court, a transfer she had requested before the Du case. "I have been honored to spend the last 20 years serving the public but now I want to devote time to my family," Karlin wrote.[20] Karlin resigned from the bench in 1997. Upon hearing of retirement, Denise Harlins stated, "I'm glad to hear that she's removed herself from the bench and that she's retired. But she didn't belong [on the bench] anyway."[42] Since retiring from the bench Karlin has used her husband's surname Fahey.[47]
In 1993, hip hop artist Tupac Shakur released a song titled "Keep Ya Head Up", which was dedicated to Latasha Harlins. Thereafter, Shakur made frequent mention of Harlins in his songs, including in tracks like "Something 2 Die 4 (Interlude)" ("Latasha Harlins, remember that name... 'Cause a bottle of juice is not something to die for"), "Thugz Mansion" ("Little Latasha, sho' grown/Tell the lady in the liquor store that she's forgiven/So come home"), "I Wonder If Heaven Got a Ghetto" ("Tell me what's a black life worth/A bottle of juice is no excuse, the truth hurts/And even when you take the shit/Move counties get a lawyer, you can shake the shit/Ask Rodney, Latasha, and many more"), "White Mans World" ("Rest in Peace to Latasha, Little Yummy, and Kato"), "Hellrazor" ("Dear Lord if ya hear me, tell me why/Little girl like Latasha, had to die")[48][49] and "N.I.G.G.A." ("Korean motherfuckers was crooked/So niggas had to burn and loot 'em [...] Lickin' off shots for Latasha, that's proper").[50]
Steph Cha's novel Your House Will Pay centers on the aftermath of the murder of a 16-year-old African-American girl in South Central Los Angeles. It is a fictionalized account of the killing of Latasha Harlins and the effects on both her family and the family of the shooter.
The short documentary film A Love Song for Latasha (2019) gives some biographical background on the life of Latasha Harlins, drawing on memories from her cousin and her best friend. Directed by Sophia Nahli Allison, it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject at the 93rd Academy Awards in 2021.
In March of 1991, 15-year-old Latasha Harlins was killed by one of the owners of the Empire Liquor convenience store in Los Angeles, Calif. Latasha had entered the store to buy a container of orange juice for $1.79 when she was fatally shot by Soon Ja Du, who assumed that she was going to steal the drink.
Following her passing, there was public outcry about why the teenager was senselessly killed. Her death occurred just a few weeks after the circulation of the video of L.A.P.D. officers beating Rodney King, and it was mentioned throughout the L.A. Riots.
Latasha's life and her legacy are the subject of the 20-minute documentary, A Love Song for Latasha. The film was released on Netflix on Sept. 21, and it tells the story of Latasha's short life, and the effect that her death has had on her family and her community.
It was unusual for Soon Ja Du, who was originally from Korea, to be behind the counter at the Empire Liquor store. Her husband, Billy Hong Ki Du, or her son generally operated the convenience store on a day-to-day basis. On the morning of March 16, 1991, Soon Ja Du was on duty at the store, while her husband was outside.
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