COMPTON, Calif. — Basketball coach Derrick Cooper plans tournaments and events for his L.A. City Wildcats Youth Academy. But in the 23 years since he founded the program, he’s also had to plan a handful of his players’ vigils and funerals.
“We are burying our children senselessly,” Cooper said. “I have buried, probably about eight kids including Semaj. Probably about eight kids over the years.”
Recently, he met with vendors and took calls as he planned a vigil for his latest fallen player: 14-year-old Semaj Miller.
“I was just like why did this have to happen to him? You know. He just wanted to enjoy life. Play. Be a kid. Get on his bike, ride,” Cooper said.
His folder, which used to have budgets and schedules, is now filled with Miller's photos and the plans for his vigil. Miller, was shot in the stomach on July 29 around 2 p.m., on the corner of Main and 87th streets. He looked like a man, at 6 feet, 6 inches tall, but Cooper said he was still, very much a child.
“His godfather sent me some footage yesterday and it just broke me down. He must have been maybe about 9 or 10 years old. . . and he was dancing and he was just so happy and he was just smiling and I was like 'Look at my boy, look at my boy, look at my boy.' He is just being a kid you know.”
His passion for basketball promised him a bright future.
“He would call me at 6 o’clock in the morning for a 2 o’clock game, and it’s like Semaj we’re sleeping, go back to sleep, call me around 10 o’clock. 'OK, coach.' And you can’t be mad at him because he is so passionate, he’s so eager to play ball,” Cooper said.
Dozens of fellow basketball players, friends, and family members showed up to Compton’s City Hall to remember Miller and celebrate his life. His mother, Taloma Miller said in a different reality without a pandemic, her son would have never been on that street at that time.
“He would have been coming out of summer school, going to Coach Tom, and then doing his normal practice at the same time that he was taken away around 2, 2:15.”
According to Los Angeles Police Department Chief Michael Moore, there has been a 14 percent increase in homicides compared to last year. The department is investigating whether financial hardships and stressors due to the pandemic are a possible reason for the rise in violence.
What is also being analyzed is whether the end of programs such as summer night lights, after school activities, summer camps, and the closure of recreation centers due to the pandemic have removed the support, supervision, guidance, and protection many children relied on.
“I started the Wildcats to give kids a place to be a part of… all those programs to give kids an outlet and to give those kids an opportunity to be safe,” Cooper said.