By 2UrbanGirls
Contributing Writer
INGLEWOOD — The city of Inglewood recorded its first homicide of 2021 on Jan. 5. A 20-year-old man, identified as Andrew Summerfield, was shot multiple times while sitting in his car in the parking lot of Darby Park.
“He was there, sitting in his car and he was shot multiple times,” said his father Dwight Summerfield. “I feel it was a premonition directly at the time my son was murdered.”
At only 20, the recipient of an Obama Award for academic excellence in high school and a student majoring in business at Grand Canyon University had died.
The Inglewood Police Department has declined to comment on the shooting that occurred between 10 and 11 a.m., but Mayor James T. Butts Jr. took to social media to express his condolences.
“I knew Andrew and will be requesting the city council match the reward to find his killer(s),” said Butts.
During the regular City Council meeting Jan. 12 Butts mentioned he has put in a request for a $25,000 reward from the city.
According to Summerfield’s mother, a GoFundMe account has been set up with a goal to raise $30,000. All of it will go to help his five closest friends with college expenses.
“We want to make sure that they finish,” said Patricia Summerfield. “He would want that.”
Darby Park is located in Inglewood’s 1st District, represented by Councilman George Dotson, who has made no comment on the matter.
Inglewood police have yet to release any description of a suspect or a vehicle possibly connected to the crime leading residents to believe there are no cameras in the park.
“There are cameras in the park,” Butts said.
Summerfield, who played basketball at View Park High School, was shot in the parking lot off the Arbor Vitae entrance, and there are no visible cameras in the immediate vicinity of where he was shot outside of the Martin Luther King Jr. Gymnasium.
The park is home to the Paul Pierce Elite Youth Basketball team, the Dobby Garden, free workouts, and families gathering at the playground.
Anonymous tips can be submitted to the tip line at (888) 412-7463 or by contacting homicide detectives at (310) 412-5246, ext. 5124.
2 Urban Girls is a freelance reporter for Wave Newspapers who covers the Compton and Inglewood area. She can be reached at 2urbangirls@gmail.com.
