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Latasha Harlins (1976-1991) was a 15-year old African American girl shot and killed on March 16, 1991, by Soon Ja Du, a Korean American store owner.

The South Los Angeles store, Empire Liquor, was normally staffed by Du's husband and son. However, on the morning of the shooting, Du was working behind the counter because her son had received death threats from local gang members against whom he was testifying in court and her husband was out resting in the family's van. Harlins' death came just 13 days after the videotaped beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles Police Department officers.

In a video captured by the security camera in the store, Latasha Harlins was seen putting a $1.79 bottle of orange juice into her backpack, with the top of the carton protruding. Du observed this action by Harlins, but did not notice that Harlins had then approached the store's counter with money in her hand. Empire Liquor had frequent problems with shoplifting and burglary, as did most grocery markets in the area. Du confronted Harlins by grabbing Harlins' sweater and attempting to take her backpack. Harlins responded by punching Du at least three times, knocking Du to the ground. Du then threw a stool and immediately reached under the counter to retrieve a handgun. Harlins threw the orange juice onto the counter, turned and started to leave the store. Du fired once, hitting Harlins in the back of the head, and fainted.

The videotape corroborates accounts by two young witnesses who said that even though the teen-ager had put the juice in her knapsack, she was approaching the store counter with money in her hand, according to [Michael J. Bostic]. After a brief scuffle with Du over the knapsack, he said, Harlins gave up, threw the orange juice on the counter and was apparently trying to leave the store when she was shot.

Bostic consistently tried to de-emphasize any racial aspects. He said that there is no evidence to back up rumors that Du nudged the dead girl with her foot, kicked her after the shooting or that any racial epithets were uttered. He also denied an allegation by the girl's family that Du was injured by her husband, who they contended attacked her after arriving at the scene minutes after the shooting.

Bostic said the videotape shows only "a scuffle" begun by Du over the knapsack, not an attack mounted by the teen-ager. He also said Du threw a stool at the girl before firing a single shot from a .38-caliber pistol.

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Du's husband, Billy Heung Ki Du, heard the shot and rushed into the store. After speaking with his wife, who falsely claimed to having been robbed, he dialed 9-1-1 to report the shooting and supposed theft. Paramedics soon arrived. However, it was too late; Harlins was dead, her two dollars still in her left hand.

Du testified on her own behalf, but her words were contradicted by the videotape and the statements of the two witnesses present at the time. Du would be convicted of voluntary manslaughter and given a sentence of 5 years' probation, 400 hours of community service, and a $500 fine by Judge Joyce Karlin after the jury in her trial had recommended a 16-year jail sentence.

The incident and sentencing by the court exacerbated already existing tensions between African American residents and Korean American merchants in South Central Los Angeles. Those tensions would prove to be one of the catalysts of the 1992 Los Angeles riots. During the course of the riots, Empire Liquor Market was burnt to the ground, along with many other businesses.

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• Du's lead attorney during her trial was Charles Lloyd, an African American.

• Tupac Shakur has referenced Harlins and her killing in several songs, including "Thugz Mansion","I Wonder If Heaven Got A Ghetto" and "Hellrazor"

• The Harlins shooting is believed to be what fueled Ice Cube's song Black Korea.

1. ^ Slain Girl Was Not Stealing Juice, Police Say: The incident in which the 15-year-old was killed by a market owner was captured on a security system videotape.
2. ^ A Senseless and Tragic Killing: New tension for Korean-American and African-American communities
3. ^ Merchant Charged in Girl's Fatal Shooting
4. ^ 911, TV Tapes Tell Different Tales in Killing of Teen-Ager Murder trial: The Korean store owner told a police operator that the black girl had tried to take money. But the security recording conflicts with that version.

• Whose Sister Are You: Latasha Harlins, Soon Ja Du, and Joyce Karlin, A Case Study of Multicultural Female Violence and Justice on the Urban Frontier (PDF, 37 pages)