Ghettoside

Wallace “Wally” Tennelle was a homicide detective in the South Bureau; it is Wally’s son Bryant’s murder that is the ostensible subject of the book. Wally moved to Los Angeles as a kid; after a stint in the Marines, he found his way to police work, learning his craft as a homicide detective during the so-called “Big Years,” the decade prior to Skaggs; he eventually took a promotion to a supervisory position, then a “demotion” into a lower-ranked position in the elite Robbery-Homicide Division (RHD). Wally is frequently described throughout the book as being very similar to Skaggs in mannerisms and temperament, and both are considered to be among the best in their trade. Unlike many of his colleagues, Wally chose to live where he worked, rather than one of the surrounding suburbs. At the time of writing, Wally was still working in RHD.

Chris Barling was Skaggs’s partner during Skaggs’s most active years in South Bureau. The two were considered to be the best in the division at the time, boasting clearance rates over 80% through much of that tenure. Barling and Skaggs had mildly-different approaches, but their differences complemented one another, and they shared a passionate desire to clear every case.

Wally’s partner during the Big Years. Like Barling and Skaggs, Baitx and Tennelle shared a passionate desire to do their best work. Also similar to Tennelle, and unlike many other cops in the LAPD, Baitx chose to live in Los Angeles, rather than in one of the surrounding suburbs; he later pushes back strongly against their colleagues’ insinuations that Tennelle somehow had it coming because of where he chose to live. 

La Barbera was the supervisory homicide detective in South Bureau in charge of Skaggs and Barling, and later Marullo and Kouri. La Barbera shared Skaggs’s and Barling’s passion and dedication to the job, working covertly with them at one point to clear the backlog of old cases, as well as new ones. La Barbera’s dedication sometimes veers into blind loyalty, though, and he takes it personally when his detectives choose to accept other positions in other departments; still, despite his frustrations, he remains loyal to his detectives. 

Marullo is a member of the younger group of talented detectives to come through South Bureau. Marullo was trained by Skaggs, and the two frequently worked together following his training. Marullo was nicknamed “Li’l Skaggs” and was presumed to be the heir to Skaggs’s position atop homicide following his departure, but frustrated with budget cuts, he eventually took a uniformed job with a gang unit. However, at the time of writing, Marullo was back in homicide. 

Kouri was brought into homicide at the request of his friend Marullo, when Marullo was recruited into the unit. At the start of the book, Kouri is a quiet, wholesome character, and for much of the book, no one is quite sure what to make of him, including Skaggs, who realizes later that he has never taken the time to properly train him as he did Marullo. However, Kouri is extremely dedicated to the job, and following the departure of Barling, Skaggs, and Marullo, Kouri assumes the position of top dog in the department and, through hard work, comes into his own as a talented homicide detective. At the time of writing, he was still working in homicide, back alongside Marullo. 

John Stirling is the assistant district attorney who was assigned to the Tennelle case. Stirling is manic, with a self-admittedly frustrating personality, but he is an effective prosecutor who, like Skaggs, is very thorough.

Bryant Tennelle was the youngest child of Wally Tennelle; it is his murder that is the ostensible subject of the book. Bryant was known as a good kid who was fond of animals and fixing up bicycles, but also had a more acute case of attention deficit disorder that prevented him from performing well in school, as his older siblings had. He grew up largely following the most violent years in his neighborhood; as a result, he was considered to be more naively fearless than his older siblings, as well. Having attended private school, he also grew up sheltered and knew very few people in his neighborhood prior to his late teens. He never took part in gang life, but he did take part to some extent in the culture and style. He was walking with his friend Walter the evening he was shot and killed.

Walter, Chris, Joshua, and Arielle were Bryant’s neighborhood friends once he got older. Though none of them were gang members themselves, some were what’s known as “gang affiliated,” meaning that they associated with people who were themselves gang members; however, this is presented as rather normal and somewhat meaningless in South Central—mostly, the group hung out, fixed up bikes, and smoked pot. The group were, on the whole, more experienced and street smart than Bryant, and they considered him to be something of an oddity, but they enjoyed his company and were fond of him. Arielle and Bryant had been dating for a bit more than four months at the time of his death. Walter had been with Bryant when he was shot and killed.

Davis (“Baby Man”) and Starks (“No Brains”) were the suspects in Bryant Tennelle’s shooting; both were ultimately convicted of murder. Davis, a teenager at the time, was the one who actually pulled the trigger. He claimed initially that he thought that they were just going to go fight someone, but when he was handed the gun, he was afraid to back down and look weak. He told police that he had killed Bryant for no reason other than that he was black, so he believed him to be fair game. Davis was initially forthcoming but jocular about the accusations; as the interrogation wore on, though, and he began to realize just how much trouble he was in, broke down in tears, and over the course of the trial became more and more resigned and apathetic. In prison, Bryant has changed his story and now claims he didn’t commit the murder; nevertheless, according to Leovy, he appears to have accepted his fate.

Starks is older than Davis—in his mid-twenties at the time of the shooting—and throughout was much more of a hardened youth, remaining stoic throughout his interrogation with Skaggs, in stark contrast to Davis. Starks hadn’t left the car for the shooting, but he provided the gun and essentially gave the order to Davis, which is what ultimately resulted in his conviction. However, Starks has maintained from the beginning that he wasn’t involved, claiming on the stand that he had been in Charleston, then later, in prison, that Davis and another person, Bobby Ray Johnson, had in fact committed the murder.

Jessica Midkiff was dating Starks at the time of the shooting and was initially driving the car they used to get away. Midkiff was a former sex worker and serial abuse victim, and Starks both physically abused her and pimped her out during their relationship, maintaining an abusive dominance and control over her. On the night in question, she had wanted to drive Starks’s car, though Starks took the wheel when it was time to get away, and she was with him when he crashed his car a few days later as the result of a car-to-car shootout. Midkiff was initially terrified of snitching on Starks and Davis, and her testimony became key to their convictions. Skaggs took a special interest in her leading up to the trial, forming something of a fatherly relationship with her, and she and Skaggs remain close to this day. 

The probationer and the man in the wheelchair were two other key witnesses. The man in the wheelchair, a drug dealer in his late twenties, was later found to be in possession of the revolver used to murder Bryant; he initially provided information with the agreement that his name would be kept out of it, but was forced to testify during the pretrial. In between the pretrial and the trial, however, he disappeared; his recorded interrogation was used in place of his testimony.

The probationer, a teenager who ran with adjacent gangs, also provided key information to Skaggs with the agreement that he would be kept out of the proceedings afterwards; he was able to provide information that ultimately led to the names of Starks and Davis. Like the man in the wheelchair, though, he was eventually forced to testify in the pretrial. His father sympathized with law enforcement and continually tried to get his son on the right track, so when he disappeared following the pretrial, his father was initially cooperative; however, once it was discovered that he was a witness in another murder, as well, his father ceased his cooperation in order to protect his son. Like the man in the wheelchair, his recorded interrogation was used in lieu of his open testimony.