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Father Seeks Higher Reward for the Murder of His Sons

By Jorge Casuso

Thursday, April 29 -- Bill Juarez had come down to his hometown Santa Monica mad enough to speak for the first time to his government, and as he stood waiting his turn to come before the council Tuesday night, he quietly grew more indignant.

Here he was, surrounded by the tall screens and flashing lights in the new digital-age council chamber, and he couldn’t help but note the contrast between the $685,000 renovation cost and the $25,000 reward the council was set to approve for information leading to the arrest of the killer of his two sons, Michael, 27, and Anthony, 19.

The brothers were gunned down in broad daylight on Tuesday, October 27 in a hip-hop clothing store on busy Lincoln Boulevard, despite beefed-up police patrols with every available officer out on he streets of Santa Monica.

A handgun was found inside the store, police said. There have been no arrests in the multiple shooting, which injured two others.

Juarez hoped a reward would help apprehend the killer, but he was insulted by the amount offered, though he had been told it was a city regulation. He also was insulted that the regulation placed the maximum reward at $25,000 per incident. It was the same amount no matter whether one of his sons was killed or two. It was the same thing with the state, which put up the maximum $75,000 per incident.

Juarez approached the new podium, which had been set level with the council, a symbolic move to change the perception of the balance of power.
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