On eve of potential Stanley Cup Final sweep, Kings donate $50,000 to help find killer of baby
The Los Angeles Kings are one win away from wrapping up one of the most flawless postseason runs in NHL history and they're still finding ways to be more impressive.
The Kings announced Tuesday that they'll be contributing $50,000 to the reward fund to find the person that shot and killed a 14-month-old baby boy Monday night in Watts. From the Kings:
The announcement was made by Kings Governor Timothy J. Leiweke during the launch of the 2,000 Acts of Hope charitable initiative in Los Angeles earlier today.
"During such an exciting time such as this we can't lose sight of the importance and responsibility we all share in keeping our community safe," said Leiweke. "Our players and staff feel a tremendous obligation to do everything we can to help find who committed this terrible act of irresponsibility and hopefully this can contribute to the effort to acquire the information necessary to find who did this and make sure everyone knows this is unacceptable in our city."
2000 Acts of Hope is a charitable initiative launched by AEG, the group that owns the Kings. It will be counting down the 2000 days leading up to the opening of the Farmers Field football stadium with a number of charitable acts and events all over Los Angeles.
They couldn't have picked a better way to launch the initiative than by aiding in the search for Angel Cortez's killer. The 14-month-old boy was playing in front of his family's home with his father Monday evening -- he had just begun to walk -- when a teenager rode up on a bicycle and began shooting.
Angel's father, Mauro, tried to shield his son from the gunfire, but it was too late. The child died later that night.
While the police feel the crime was tied to gang violence, the Cortez family was not. It was just a senseless and horrible act of violence. For the Kings to get involved in bringing the perpetrator to justice when they clearly have other things on their plate is yet another in a long line of great choices by the people running their organization.
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