Alex Johnson – Journalist at Large

Inked on the chest of a Pico Rivera gang member was the detailed scene of a liquor store slaying that had stumped an L.A. County sheriff’s investigator for more than four years. …

Homicide Lt. Dave Dolson said gang members frequently get symbolic tattoos to bolster their street cred: three dots on the hand to signify “mi vida loca” (“my crazy life”), sketches of prisons where they’ve done time, gang insignia prominently stenciled on their heads and torsos.

But a tattoo laying out a detailed picture of a crime scene is something far outside the norm. “I haven’t seen it before, and I haven’t heard of anything like it either,” Dolson said.

… Investigators don’t believe Garcia’s elaborate tattoo was a rash decision. Photos from several bookings over the years show the mural on his chest evolving as he added details to the tattooed murder scene.

Full story (Los Angeles Times)