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Kendrick Lamar’s good kid, m.A.A.D. city concept album came across as an afterthought in a sense, seeing that gang violence in Los Angeles isn’t as renown for gang violence as it was in the 1990s.

The Grammy-Nominated rapper, along with sports figures Richard Sherman and Brandon Jennings are living examples that kids from Compton don’t have to represent the perpetuated stereotype of their stomping grounds. (Jennings tends to push his luck, though.)

Just because the violence isn’t being reported, doesn’t mean it is not happening. Incidentally that should answer the tree-in-the-forest question once and for all, no?

In a recent editorial, the Los Angeles Times and their homicide detachment have shed light on the dark passageways of South Vermont Avenue, which has been dubbed “death alley.”

The ingenious nickname stems from the fact that sixty murders have been accounted for since 2007 down its two-mile stretch, not to mention countless incidents of random violence.

Reports L.A. Times:

In a county of 10 million people, Westmont is among the deadliest places to live. In the last seven years, 100 people — nearly all of them male — have been killed in the 1.8 square miles wedged between the city of Los Angeles and Inglewood. Times analysis of homicide data collected in that time found Westmont’s rate of killings to be the highest overall.

Violent crime in the nation — and in Los Angeles County overall — has reached its lowest levels in decades. In many respects, that downturn has spread evenly across neighborhoods, a Times analysis found. But depending on where you live, violence may be an everyday fact of life or so rare that it still shocks.

The face of who gets killed was unchanged over the seven years of homicides.

Men account for nearly 85% of homicide victims. One of every three males killed is between the ages of 17 and 25. Latinos, about half of the county’s population, account for nearly half of all killings since 2007.

It is also being reported that at least six different gangs, including variations of Crips lay claim to the area.

Crime as we know, can be contagious and there doesn’t seem to be any solution in sight. The Sheriff’s Department is only looking to quarantine the situation opposed to fixing it.

Check the gallery for the tragic pictures of the fatal blocks.

Photo: Genaro Molina/L.A. Times

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