(L.A.) Joshua Simmons, 15, Died From Gunshots

Case Number: 2022-04205

Los Angeles County is reporting the death of a 15-year-old Black male that occurred in a park.

The coroner’s office has identified the teenager as Joshua Simmons, resident of Via Wanda in Long Beach.

Manner of Death: Homicide

Cause of Death: Gunshot Wounds of the Back/Chest

RIP JOSHUA SIMMONS (May 7, 2006 – April 15, 2022)

Formal pronouncement of death was made on Friday at 9:43 p.m.

Incident Location: Atlantic Plaza Park
851 Via Carmelitos, Long Beach, CA 90805

This happened near the Via Carmelitos Community Center.

A man in his 20s named Jose Bustamante Cardenas had met the decedent to discuss a lavender iPhone 11 Pro, which Cardenas was selling on Offer Up for $500. Cardenas initially claimed that Simmon grabbed the phone in an attempted theft and that the teen was reaching for his waistband.

Video showed, however, that Simmons was pumping his arms while attempting to run away as Cardenas pulled the gun from his left pocket and began shooting.

The weapon fired was a nine-millimeter handgun.

After the shooting, Simmons lay motionless for about eight minutes before a group of people spotted him on the ground. Police arrived nearly 15 minutes after the shooting, with one attempting chest compressions on the boy for four minutes until firefighters arrived.

Physical evidence found at the scene suggested Cardenas fired at Simmons seven times. A medical examiner’s report noted six gunshot wounds, two of which were deemed “rapidly fatal.” Both of those gunshot wounds entered Simmons’ back, with one exiting the front of his neck and the other at the front left shoulder.

Cardenas’s public defender has said Simmons did not have the money to buy the phone. Both police and medical examiner’s investigators found no actual dollar bills on Simmons, they testified, but they also found no firearms. Simmons had two Cash App cards on him, one of which was found to have $1.37 on it and the other empty.

The trial is ongoing as of August 2024.