Latasha Harlins

Karlin became the target of protests and an unsuccessful recall campaign. Denise Harlins, Latasha Harlins's aunt, led protests outside Karlin's home and the Compton courthouse. Protesters noted that a week after Latasha Harlins's death, a Glendale man received a more severe sentence than Du for kicking a dog. After the Los Angeles Times endorsed one of her opponents in her re-election campaign, she wrote a letter to the newspaper, saying "[I]f judges have to look over their shoulders as they decide a case; if they have to test the political winds in order to arrive at a politically correct verdict—then the judicial system and the freedoms it guarantees will be destroyed".The Harlins family held vigils outside the Du residence every year on the anniversary of her sentencing.

Denise Harlins interrupted an awards ceremony at the Biltmore Hotel for Du defense attorney Charles Lloyd. Karlin and Du's son also attended that ceremony. "All you people sitting, applauding over a child killer," Harlins yelled. "Latasha was defenseless. She didn't do nothing!" Karlin was re-elected to the Superior Court bench. She then moved to Juvenile Dependency Court, a transfer she had requested before the Du case. "I have been honored to spend the last 20 years serving the public but now I want to devote time to my family," Karlin wrote. Karlin resigned from the bench in 1997. Upon hearing of retirement, Harlins's aunt Denise stated, "I'm glad to hear that she's removed herself from the bench and that she's retired. But she didn't belong [on the bench] anyway."

Hip-hop artist Tupac Shakur took particular note of Harlins's death and in 1993 released a song entitled "Keep Ya Head Up" which was dedicated to Latasha Harlins. Thereafter, Shakur made frequent mention of Harlins in his songs, including in tracks like "Something 2 Die 4 (Interlude)" ("Latasha Harlins, remember that name... 'Cause a bottle of juice is not something to die for"), "Thugz Mansion" ("Little Latasha, sho' grown/Tell the lady in the liquor store that she’s forgiven/So come home"), "I Wonder If Heaven Got a Ghetto" ("Tell me what's a black life worth/A bottle of juice is no excuse, the truth hurts/And even when you take the shit/Move counties get a lawyer, you can shake the shit/Ask Rodney, Latasha, and many more"), "White Mans World" ("Rest in Peace to Latasha, Little Yummy, and Kato") and "Hellrazor" ("Dear Lord if ya hear me, tell me why/Little girl like Latasha, had to die").

A state appeals court later unanimously upheld Judge Karlin's sentencing decision, 3-0, on April 21, 1992, about a week before the LA riots. In July 1992, the Harlins family was awarded $300,000 in settlement.

During the 1992 riots, Du's store was looted and burned down, and it never reopened. The property later became a market under different ownership. Latasha Harlins is buried next to her mother in Paradise Memorial Park, Santa Fe Springs, California.

Soon Ja Du's store, Empire Liquor, located in the intersection of 91st St. and Figueroa Ave. Vermont Vista, Los Angeles, was normally staffed by Du's husband and son. However, on the morning of the shooting, Du was working behind the counter, and her husband was outside resting in the family van.

On November 15, 1991 a jury found that Du's decision to fire the gun was fully within her control and that she fired the gun voluntarily. The jury found Du guilty of voluntary manslaughter, an offense that carries a maximum prison sentence of 16 years. The jury recommended the maximum sentence for Du. However, the trial judge, Joyce Karlin, did not accept the jury's sentencing recommendation and instead sentenced Du to five years of probation, 400 hours of community service, and a $500 fine.

The incident and reduced sentencing by the court exacerbated the existing tensions between African-American residents and Asian-American merchants in South-central Los Angeles. Those tensions were later interpreted by some members of the public and activists as being one of the catalysts for the 1992 Los Angeles riots. The Los Angeles mayor's office estimated that 65 percent of all businesses vandalized during the riots were Korean-owned. On August 17, 1991, while Du was awaiting trial, a small fire occurred at her store.

Acoff Sr. was known to be abusive towards Crystal Harlins, attacking her in front of Latasha and her siblings. Both parents drank heavily and smoked crack cocaine. Their unstable marriage eventually ended in 1983. On November 27, 1985, Crystal was brutally shot dead outside a Los Angeles nightclub by Cora Mae Anderson, Acoff's new girlfriend, leaving Latasha and her siblings in the care of their maternal grandmother, Ruth Harlins. The death of her mother had a devastating impact on Latasha who began to rebel and argue with her grandmother and her aunt Denise. Their relationship worsened further when Latasha, then 14, was groomed by counselor at the local recreational center named Jerry Foster, who was between 29 and 32 years-old. At the time of her death, Latasha was a student at Westchester High School.

Latasha Harlins (July 14, 1975 – March 16, 1991) was a 15-year-old African-American girl who was fatally shot by Soon Ja Du (Hangul:두순자 ), a 51-year-old Korean-born female convenience store owner. Du was tried and convicted of voluntary manslaughter in Harlins' death and sentenced to time served, five years of probation, 400 hours of community service, a $500 restitution, and funeral expenses. The death of Latasha Harlins, which was recorded on security footage, and the later sentencing and failed appeal, are considered to have contributed to the 1992 Los Angeles riots, especially the targeting of Koreatown, Los Angeles. Harlins' death came 13 days after the videotaped beating of Rodney King.

Latasha Harlins was born July 14, 1975 in East St. Louis, Illinois, to Crystal Harlins and Sylvester "Vester" Acoff Sr. Latasha had a younger brother, Vester Acoff Jr. and a younger sister, Christina. The family moved from Illinois to South Central Los Angeles in 1981. When Latasha was six years old, her father took a job in a steel foundry while her mother worked as a waitress in a local tavern. They lived near 89th St. and Broadway, just a few blocks from where Latasha would be killed ten years later.