The family of a South LA woman who was found bound and gagged in her apartment is asking that a reward be offered to help catch her killer.
Tyesa Harvey said her mother, Fatima Johnson, was doing the best she could. She went to school. She worked two jobs. She was the mother of six children.
She did not deserve to die.
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"Just because my mother was killed at 76th and Western in South LA in a drug-infested neighborhood does not mean she was a bad woman," she said.
Johnson, who was seven years sober, worked in a nursing home and was studying to be a nurse. Her children found her body earlier this month, wrapped in a blanket on the floor of her Manchester Square apartment. She had duct tape around her mouth and her hands were bound.
Although the family says they may know who is responsible for their mother's murder, they are asking that a reward be offered for more information in the case.
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"Right now my family and I do not feel like we are getting the same justice for my mother's murder as if she was found anywhere else," Harvey said. "We are asking a reward be put out. If this happened anywhere else there would have been a reward."
Added community activist Najee Ali: "We have seen too many homicides in this community of black women murdered, discarded like their lives meant nothing."
Johnson's daughter says her mother's life meant everything to everyone who knew her.
"She just had a beautiful spirit," she said. "She had the spirit of giving. She gave more of herself than she should have."
Anyone with information is urged to call LAPD South Bureau Homicide Division detectives Brian Smith or Pat Farmer at 323-786-5113 or call 323-786-5067. Anyone wishing to remain anonymous should call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
