A 17-year-old was charged with murder today for allegedly killing a 14-year-old rising basketball star in South Los Angeles.
The teen was arrested Thursday, according to the Los Angeles Police Department, which did not release the juvenile’s name.
Semaj Miller was fatally shot on July 29 about 2:20 p.m. in the 100 block of East 87th Place, near South Main Street, police said.
Officers found Miller lying in the driveway unconscious and unresponsive. He was pronounced dead at the scene, according to police.
Miller was a rising basketball star who started playing at 5 years old, the Los Angeles Times reported. At 14, he had grown to 6 feet, 6 inches tall and was playing for the Los Angeles City Wildcats Youth Academy.
The program’s creator, Derrick Cooper, told The Times “I’ve never had a kid work as hard as that… It was like he knew he had to get it in because he didn’t have a lot of time.”
Miller sometimes rode his bicycle as many as 10 miles in each direction to make it to practice, according to The Times.
Miller had plans to play basketball for Compton High School after he graduated from middle school in Long Beach, The Times reported.
