L.A. Gang Intervention Leader Arrested in Murder Conspiracy Case

Published November 5, 2026. Skipp Townsend, 62, executive director of the South Los Angeles gang intervention group 2nd Call, was arrested by Los Angeles Police Department detectives on November 4 on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder. He is being held on $2 million bail and has not been charged. Police have not identified the alleged target, and the district attorney’s office has not said whether prosecutors have received the case for a charging decision.

Four other people were taken into custody in connection with the investigation. Police detained Lenita Sinna Dee Lewis, 28, and Shamond Bennett, 49, on November 2, while Nichole Aaliyah Smith, 23, and Jeremiah Abdelhameed, 25, were held on suspicion of being accessories after the fact. Police also served search warrants, and an activist said computers were seized from 2nd Call’s offices.

The arrests follow the August 6 fatal shooting of Reginald Foreman, a 2nd Call team member who was working on a weed-removal project near Crenshaw Boulevard in the Hyde Park neighborhood. Witnesses described a masked young person approaching Foreman and Bennett and opening fire. Investigators believe Foreman’s killing was gang-related.

Townsend has led 2nd Call for more than two decades, helping mediate disputes and offering alternatives to violence. The organization has city contracts. UCLA gang researcher Jorja Leap, who worked with Townsend for 20 years, said she was stunned by the arrest and called for evidence against him to be shown.

Townsend described Foreman as an influence who could have helped save lives. Another 2nd Call employee, Eric Washington, was killed in July while trying to break up an altercation. A $70,000 reward is being offered for information about Washington’s death.