LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Tuesday doubled the reward to help find the killer of a high school student who was gunned down in Palmdale in 2016.
Supervisor Kathryn Barger recommended doubling the county’s reward to $20,000 in the case of Jaquarius “Jay” Quinn, who was found shot to death about 8:30 p.m. on Nov. 6, 2016, in the 2300 block of Old Harold Road. The Palmdale City Council will also double its contribution to $10,000, for a total of $30,000 offered in exchange for information leading to an arrest and conviction.
Detectives said they believe more reward money might convince witnesses to come forward.
Investigators say Quinn went out to enjoy an early Sunday dinner with family members who last saw him about 5 p.m. on the day he was killed. Detectives are unsure of a motive for the killing and said it was unclear whether the 17-year-old was shot on the street or pushed out of a vehicle on a desert stretch of roadway.
Quinn was identified when his grandmother came to the sheriff’s station the next day to report him missing.
The R. Rex Parris High School 11th-grader’s hobbies included playing flag football with his friends, drawing, cooking and dancing. He was hoping to become an actor.
At a January news conference at the Hall of Justice in downtown Los Angeles, authorities and the teen’s family members appealed for help in solving the crime.
“Somebody knows what happened to my son,” said Jessica Quinn, who was wearing a T-shirt with an image of the teen on it. “My son didn’t deserve that. He was a kid; I mean, a child. How do you take a kid’s life like that? … I just want justice.”
Barger said his family “deserves to know that Jay’s killer is held responsible. It is my hope that this reward will help someone remember something that may be helpful in finally bringing justice to the Quinn family.”
Anyone with information on this homicide is encouraged to call sheriff’s homicide Lt. Joe Mendoza at 323-890-5564 or Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477).
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