The Story of Latasha Harlins

Before the Rodney King verdict, there was Latasha Harlins.

By Gladys W. MuturiPublished 4 years ago • 3 min read

Latasha Harlins

Before taxi driver Rodney King verdict, there was a young African American teen named Latasha Harlins, a fifteen year old African American girl who was killed inside the Korean store by Korean store owner Soon Ja Du after she was accused of stealing orange juice which became a huge uproar in the South Central causing a lot of damage in every Korean businesses.

Latasha Harlins was born on January 1, 1976 East St. Louis, Illinois, to her parents Crystal Harlins and Sylvester "Vester" Acoff Sr. Harlins was the oldest of her siblings: Vester Acoff Jr. and Christina. When Harlins was five, her and her family moved to South Central Los Angeles. In South Central, the area was very urban filled with Blacks, Latinos, and Koreans. While living there, Harlin’s father was working at a steel company while her mother was working as a waitress. They lived near 89th St. and Broadway, just a few blocks from where Latasha would be killed ten years later. Throughout Latasha’s parents marriage, her father was physically abusive towards her mother and. Their marriage ended in 1983 and her father leaves them behind in the care of her mother. Until November 27, 1985, Harlins mother was brutally shot dead outside a Los Angeles nightclub by her father’s girlfriend. After Latasha’s mother death, Latasha’s Grandmother Ruth and her aunt took custody of Latasha and her siblings. While she was living with her grandmother, she started to rebel, she would constantly argue with her grandma but other than that Harlins was an intelligent, popular straight A student at Westchester High School and had dreams of becoming a lawyer.

March 16, 1991

It was Saturday morning at South Central after 13 days since the videotaped beating of Rodney King. Harlins was on her way to go to Empire Market, a Korean owned business store.

Empire Market, the store where Harlins was murdered.

At 10 am, Harlins entered the store, walked inside to find the beverages aisle. She opens the fridge and takes a $1.79 orange juice from the fridge puts it beside her backpack before she pulled out two dollars. 51-year-old Soon Ja Du was at the counter watching Harlins believing that she was “stealing”the juice. Harlins heads to the counter about to pay for her beverage. Du started to accuse her of stealing the juice and demands her to put the juice back. Harlins denied stealing the juice. Du grabbed Harlins sweater and backpack, Harlins punched Du several times. Two young eyewitnesses at the store heard Du called Harlins a “b**ch”. Du angrily threw a stool at her. Harlins then picked up the orange juice bottle that dropped during the scuffle and handed it to Du, who snatched the bottle from her, and Harlins turned to leave. Du pulls out the revolver gun and shoots at Harlins striking her in the head.

A surveillance footage captured Latasha Harlins encounters with Soon Ja Du before she was killed.

After she was shot, Du's husband, Billy Heung Ki Du, heard the gunshot and rushed into the store. He sees his wife in a panic mode and saw Harlins body's lifeless body lying in a pool of blood. Billy contacts the police. Police arrived at the store, they saw Harlins dead body and saw two dollars in her hands shows that Harlins wasn’t stealing the juice and was planning on paying it. Harlins was dead at the scene.

She was 15.

Soon was arrested and charged for her murder. Eight months after shooting Harlins, Du went to trial. She claimed self-defense, but a jury found her guilty of manslaughter. Du faced a possible 16-year prison term, but Judge Joyce Karlin sentenced her to probation, 400 hours of community service, a $500 fine, and a suspended prison term. Though she faced a maximum sentence of 16 years in prison, she did not have to spend time behind bars following the conviction. Unlike Kings verdict, People of L.A. were outraged by the Judge’s decision. During the 1992 riots, Du's store was looted and burned down; it never reopened.

Where is Soon now?

On the 15-year anniversary of the L.A. Riots, Time reported that Soon Ja Du was living in the San Fernando Valley in California. Her whereabouts is unknown.

Aftermath

Harlins was buried next to her mother in Paradise Memorial Park, Santa Fe Springs, California. Her life has been told in books, films and documentaries including Academy award nominated A Love Song for LaTasha.

Rapper Tupac has mentioned her name in his songs. A California park was named after her.