$10,000 Reward Offered in Fatal Attack on Metro Train Platform

A 65-year-old man died after he was punched and kicked by two women on a Blue Line train platform

Surveillance video and images were released Tuesday as investigators asked for help and announced a reward for information in the case of a 65-year-old man who was beaten to death on a Metro train platform.

Authorities announced a $10,000 reward, approved by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, for information in the death of John Wayne Whitmore. He was attacked by two women June 13 as he stood on a Blue Line train platform in the 10000 bock of Willowbrook Aenue, between Imperial Highway and Wilmington Avenue.

Whitmore died June 20 at the hospital.

"He told me he kept telling (the women to) go away, leave me alone," the victim's brother-in-law Corey Aldrich said.

The platform camera video shows the two women -- one wearing a white blouse and shorts, the other in a black shirt, white patterned pants and a headscarf -- walking around on the platform. The two attackers, believed to be between 18 and 21 years old, argued with Whitmore before they "severely" beat him -- kicking and punching him -- in what authorities described as an "unprovoked" assault, according to investigators.

"There may have been some type of exchange that occurred, as minute as one of the females saying, 'What are you looking at,'"  LA County Sheriff's Lt. Dave Coleman said. "After he went to the ground they just mingled in with the crowd and disappeared."

The video also shows several other people boarding and exiting the train. 

"I hope that people take it personally," said Whitmore's sister, Gwendolyn Whitmore Aldrich. "It cannot only happen to my brother. It can happen to anybody out there. Don't be afraid, come forward."

Whitmore’s sister said her brother was an artist who battled schizophrenia and depression most of his life. Family members said they spoke with him about the attack, which occurred near a sheriff's department station.

Family members said the victim sponsored kids to go to college when they could not afford it, saying  "he never forgot where he came from."

"(The suspects) stole something very valuable, precious," Aldrich said. "Turn youselves in."

Whitmore's family is looking for closure. Whitmore is survived by his sister, a brother and 13 nieces and nephews.

"It’s really emotional for me cause it hurts," the victim's nephew Benjamin Whitmore said.

Samia Khan contributed to this report.
 

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