Two men have been arrested in connection with the killing of Oscar Duncan, a 23-year-old Venice resident who was a youth pastor and former "Youth of the Year," police said Monday.
The Los Angeles Police Department identified the suspects Monday afternoon as Kevin Dwayne Green, 28, and Hopeton Bereford Parsley, 22.
Parsley was arrested Saturday afternoon by homicide detectives with the LAPD's West Bureau and booked at 9:44 p.m. with bail set at $1 million, according to information from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's online inmate information data. Green was arrested Friday at 7:55 p.m. by officers with the LAPD's robbery-homicide division and booked at 2:34 a.m. into the Pacific Division jail. Green's bail was set at $1 million and he also had a no-bail parole hold, according to the sheriff's inmate information site.
Parsley was arrested in January in Culver City and sentenced later that month to 270 days in custody, but was released April 21, according to the sheriff's data. He was arrested by Culver City Police Department officers on a domestic violence charge and prosecutors filed charges of domestic violence causing injury, assault with a deadly weapon to produce great bodily injury and making criminal threats, said Lt. Ron Iizuka of the Culver City Police Department.
Duncan was shot and killed June 4 about 10:30 p.m. in the 600 block of Santa Clara Avenue after exchanging words with several men in a white car, police said. A gunman shot one round that struck Duncan in the head and he collapsed on the street and was later pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.
Duncan, a 2006 graduate of Venice High School, was named the 2006 "Youth of the Year" by the Boys & Girls Club of Venice. He later worked for the club as a mentor who helped steer youths away from gangs and as an instructor in the club's audio engineering program.
Duncan also was a youth pastor at Greater Zion Family Church in Compton and oversaw 1,500 youths. Duncan was a captain of the Venice High School football team, homecoming king and known for his singing and dancing talents.
A $50,000 reward was announced last week to help detectives solve the case.
Police were planning on presenting the case Tuesday to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office for the filing of charges, said Officer Norma Eisenman, a police spokeswoman.
