Local mothers grieve sons' lives lost during officer-involved shootings

The late beloved county supervisor Kenny Hahn would often start news conferences after violence had been committed in the inner city with these words: "Somewhere in South LA, a mother cries."

FOX 11's Laura Diaz was reminded of those words when she sat down to interview two mothers who lost their sons during officer-involved shootings on LA's Eastside.

Lisa Vargas and Leah Garcia met under the worst of circumstances. Leah Garcia's 18-year-old son Paul was killed by LA County Sheriffs' deputies on June 27, 2019.

When Vargas heard the terrible news, she ran to the scene in Montebello to comfort Garcia, a woman she had never met. And yet, ironically she knew. She knew her heartbreak.

Just a year before, Vargas' 21-year old son Anthony had been shot to death by deputies. The date was August 12, 2018. Vargas said her son was attending a party in East LA when deputies arrived to investigate a nearby robbery.

To this day, the details of his shooting not released, according to Vargas. She says an autopsy showed her son was shot 13 times. She's haunted by the nagging question: "Did my baby cry out for me?"

Both moms said they will never rest until they know what happened to their kids.

This group of Latina mothers meets once a week, about ten in a group. They comfort, encourage, and motivate each other. The BLM movement has given them hope. They now protest for change and meet with each other for their sons "angel- a- versaries" on the day they passed.

The biggest complaint heard was a lack of information supplied by the sheriff's department to these grieving families.

As far as Leah Garcia, on Monday she received her son's Paul Rea's autopsy. She read it and she wept.

FOX 11 contacted deputies and will update this story once we have more information.