New details of the slaying of Latauriisha O’Brien, better known as Half Ounce, come from police documents that have never before been made public.
What we know: The documents describe surveillance footage of the shooting, as well as interviews with friends and family of the slain rapper.
Why it matters: Hip-hop's storied history has long been complicated by street violence and greater Los Angeles is one of the deadliest places for rappers, according to an analysis by L.A. TACO.
What's next: Anthony King, 37, and Dennis Risinger, 38, face murder charges. Both men have pleaded not guilty to all charges, and the first hearing in the case is set for Nov. 6.
Just after 11:30 on a Monday night last October, Latauriisha O’Brien, better known as Half Ounce, pulled up to a curb near his Koreatown apartment. The 32-year-old rapper was on a video chat with his wife as he parked his Mercedes-Benz on New Hampshire Avenue.
As he kept chatting with his wife, O’Brien and a friend in his vehicle didn’t seem to notice the dark SUV parked directly behind them.
When he and his friend got out of the car and walked toward O’Brien’s apartment, they also apparently didn’t notice as the same SUV made a U-turn, drove past them, parked, and turned off its lights before letting out a passenger who appeared to hide behind another car.
An ambush had been set — an ambush in which the killer would make sure O’Brien saw his face before executing him with a volley of point-blank gunshots.
Chilling details emerge in court filings
These chilling new details of Half Ounce’s slaying come from police documents that have never before been made public. Those documents describe surveillance footage of the shooting, as well as interviews with friends and family of the slain rapper.
The documents also lay out law enforcement’s initial theory of the case. That theory revolves around a robbery and a subsequent online feud, and it led to murder charges for Anthony King, 37, and Dennis Risinger, 38. Both men have pleaded not guilty to all charges, and the first hearing in the case is set for Nov. 6.
King’s legal team had no comment. LAist left a phone message and email for Risinger’s attorney and did not hear back by the time of publication.
A storied history complicated by street violence
The revelations in the case come as hip-hop is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Many of its stars have succumbed to the street violence that the music often portrays, and greater Los Angeles is one of the deadliest places for rappers, according to an analysis by L.A. TACO. Since 2019, Nipsey Hussle, Pop Smoke, Slim 400, Drakeo The Ruler, Earl Swavey, Kee Riches, and PnB Rock have all been killed in L.A., Inglewood or Compton.
Half Ounce portrayed a gangster lifestyle in his music, social media, and videos, such as the single “Roll Call.” He would also regularly showcase his affiliations with the Pirus and Bloods street gangs in his artistry, and court records document his numerous run-ins with the law from 2008 to 2014.
But O’Brien had not been in serious legal trouble since his early 20s, and his family has said in public-facing comments that the father of four had left street life behind to pursue rapping. His wife said that he was working at UPS to support their family in addition to recording new music. O’Brien’s mother also told KTLA he was studying heating and air conditioning at UEI College with the intent of starting his own business.
Account of a robbery and a feud
O’Brien and King were once friends, according to an affidavit submitted to obtain a search warrant for King’s Instagram account. O’Brien’s mother, according to the affidavit, said King was her son’s “play brother.”
That changed over the summer of 2022, O’Brien’s mother told detectives, around the time Half Ounce released the single “GANGBANGIN.”
According to the account O’Brien’s mother gave police, her son asked King to give him a ride to the Ladera shopping center in Los Angeles so O’Brien could loan her a few hundred dollars. She told detectives that when she met with her son he was carrying between $50,000 to $60,000 in cash and was wearing expensive jewelry.
According to the police documents, his mother said O’Brien later told her that soon after they left the plaza, King made a stop at a secluded Baldwin Village alley in South Central. Her son also said that a man carrying two handguns ran up to his car window and demanded his cash at gunpoint. O’Brien’s mother said he told her that he believed King was involved with the robbery because, after handing over the money, the robber started walking away — yet King urged O’Brien to also surrender his jewelry anyway because it “was not worth his life.”
After the robbery, according to the documents, King and O’Brien began to trade barbs over Instagram, with O’Brien telling members of their circle that King set him up and circulating edited pictures of King with a penis in his mouth. King would describe O’Brien as a “snitch” and allegedly send him pictures of his mother’s apartment.
In the affidavit, detectives said that O’Brien appeared “to forgive King for the robbery” in text messages. Detectives say King responded by telling O’Brien to “Stop playing baby boy and go run and hide.”
Never tell someone you gone kill them. And then take yo word back.
— Text from King to O'Brien, according to a police warrant.
When O’Brien asked King why he had sent him a picture of his mother’s home, King texted him “Never tell someone you gone kill them. And then take yo word back.”
Those messages led to police identifying King as a suspect in Half Ounce’s murder, and he and Risinger were arrested separately just after Christmas in Long Beach. Both were charged with O’Brien’s murder and the attempted murder of his friend, while King faces an additional weapons charge.
A Los Angeles police spokesperson told LAist that officers would not speak about the killing this close to the trial. A voicemail and text message from LAist to the prosecutor in the case was not returned by the time of publication.
King had been previously convicted of robbery in 2005 and sentenced to 13 years in state prison. Police documents say he was on parole at the time of Half Ounce’s murder.
Risinger served several jail stints prior to his arrest, court records show. Most recently, in 2017, he had been sentenced to two years for assault and 11 months for violating a protection order.
Both men have been held without bail since their arrest.
Half Ounce’s final moments
O’Brien, still on the phone with his wife, continued walking toward his apartment with his friend. As they passed the car where the assailant apparently hid, surveillance video recorded muzzle flashes, police documents state. O’Brien, appearing wounded according to the police account, ran toward another apartment building. His friend escaped unharmed into a nearby alley.
On the phone, O’Brien’s pregnant wife heard the gunshots. She wasn’t looking at her screen right then, and when she did, the call had ended. She left her home, which was separate from O’Brien’s apartment, to check on her husband.
Meanwhile, the wounded O’Brien apparently tried to hide in a planter in front of an apartment building.
Location where O'Brien was found by police.
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Courtesy Apple maps
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The masked assassin, according to surveillance footage described in the documents, followed O’Brien to the planter. The killer then lifted his ski mask to show the wounded rapper his face, then stood over O’Brien before shooting him repeatedly, leaving him with nearly a dozen bullet wounds before running back to the waiting SUV.
O’Brien’s wife and mother, who also rushed to the scene, were not able to locate him. But an officer responding to a 911 call reporting the gunshots was canvassing the area and noticed a pair of black boots sticking out of the planter. The officer tapped on the boots but didn’t receive a response. It was O’Brien’s dead body.
