Word: hagan
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When the teenagers saw the rifle, three of them ran. But Kellie Mosier, 17, a lissome, bright-eyed high school junior who worked in an ice-cream store, never got a chance. As she turned to flee, Hagan began squeezing the trigger, methodically emptying all 15 rounds from the fully loaded clip. Just for kicks. Mosier was hit six times in the back...
This summer Hagan was convicted of first-degree murder for the 1986 slaying. His sentencing is set for September. He pleaded not guilty, claiming that the fateful day was blurred by drugs. Witnesses testified otherwise. Like so many other killers churned out each year by the ghetto, Hagan does not really care what happened. He does not care about Kellie Mosier or her family or her dreams of being a model or the fact that she never belonged to any gang. "I done did something, and I'm known," he boasts, smiling broadly as he lounges behind the bars...
...many American ghettos now resemble Beirut, urban terrorists like Hagan are largely responsible, acting as roving gangs peddling drugs and violence and terror. Despite the fratricide among gangs, most of their victims are innocent bystanders. Says Lieut. Bob Ruchhoft of the Los Angeles police department's gang detail: "Life is cheap as hell in some of these communities...
...Hagan is all muscle and fight. His gang moniker, tattooed across both forearms, is "Wishbone." But "Powder Keg" might have been more appropriate. "If I'm loaded and get mad, anything can happen," he warns. He reckons that about ten of his friends have died violently over the years but still finds the dangers of the streets "exciting." Just another rush in a big man's game of cowboys and Indians. Even the prospect of a lifetime behind bars does not crack the cold composure. "To me, life is not much better on the streets than in jail," he says...
...oldest of three children, Hagan grew up with his mother in the squalor of south central Los Angeles. His father left the family when Hagan was only ten. It did not take Hagan long to learn who had the girls, the cars, the clothes and the prestige. When he was 13, he was jumped by a dozen local gang members, who beat him savagely. He fought back like a wild animal, and his courage earned him the status of a home boy, the generic street name for a fellow gang member. He had been accepted...