A man police said murdered a mother of 9 children after an argument over a rainbow flag has a history of homophobic posts.
ABC7 reports that investigators believe Travis Ikeguchi gunned down an LGBTQ ally who flew a pride flag outside her store at Cedar Glenn near Los Angeles.
San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus said Ikeguchi shot Laura Ann Carleton after cutting down her flag and “yelling many homophobic slurs,” reported NBC News.
Ikeguchi ran away from the store. When deputies caught up with him, he turned with a gun before being fatally shot.
A photo of a rainbow flag on fire is pinned to Ikeguchi’s X account (formerly Twitter).
What to do with the LGBTQP flag? pic.twitter.com/8O57VSrn2Y
— Travis Ikeguchi (@TravisIkeguchi) June 13, 2023
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Carleton’s daughter Ari says her family is less interested in Ikeguchi and cares more about carrying on her mother’s legacy.
“We will continue to steer the narrative away from him and towards my mother and honoring her. He is irrelevant,” she said to NBC via Instagram. “The media must stop glorifying these individuals by giving them this platform.”
According to KTLA, Ari’s mother was a longtime fashion contributor, curator and entrepreneur. She also owned a second Mag.Pi store in Studio City. She attended ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena and worked for Kenneth Cole Production for 15 years.
Cole called her death “unnecessary and tragic.”
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