Over ten months since the tragic death of 21-year-old Lanai Ariyana Dees, Los Angeles County sheriff's homicide detectives are appealing to the public for assistance in identifying a person of interest connected to the homicide. The incident, which occurred on November 17, 2024, involved Dees being fatally shot while seated in her car, a white Mercedes-Benz sedan, following what initially appeared to be a traffic collision on the 2000 block of West Century Boulevard in South Los Angeles.
The call to the scene came in around 12:40 a.m., and when Los Angeles police officers arrived, they discovered Dees with a gunshot wound. Despite reports of the incident by KTLA, little progress was made until now, with detectives releasing a photo of the unidentified individual. While the motivation behind the shooting remains unclear, the plea for public intervention remains a significant step in the ongoing investigation.
In interviews following the incident, Dees was remembered by her family as a "kind and loving young woman," and her brother Jordan Dees called the murder a "senseless tragedy." At the time, he implored, "Please help. Please call the police, call me if you know me…if you know anything, please don’t stay silent, because we have to get the person that did this. We have to," as he told KTLA.
Authorities encourage anyone with information to contact LASD Homicide Detectives Guillen or Collinsworth at (323) 890-5500. For those opting to remain anonymous, tips can be submitted by calling Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477, through the "P3 Tips" mobile app, or online, as noted in a post on Instagram by the LASD. This concerted community effort aims to bring closure to the Dees family and justice for Lanai, aligning with the greater call for societal responsibility in the face of violent crime.
