Compton employees have been found to be involved in the death of a cyclist last June at the intersection of Compton and Sloan. The man was identified as Jose Portillo who died after a car, allegedly traveling at a high rate of speed, hit him while he was in the marked crosswalk.
The occupants of the car struck Portillo at 3:50pm, on June 20, 2019. The accident occurred near the home of one of the employees.
Portillo’s cause of death was listed as “blunt head trauma” by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner and his family is seeking unspecified damages from the city of Compton and other defendants.
The family has filed a lawsuit against Kimberly McKenzie, Director of Employment/Training Services at the Compton Careerlink, Tene Kishan, former council liaison to District 4 Councilwoman Emma Shariff and the city of Compton.
The accident occurred in a personal vehicle.
According to city hall insiders, McKenzie faced no disciplinary action as a result of the accident, which occurred during work hours. Witnesses state the passenger in the car fled the scene while they administered aid to the victim.
“My sister and my 8 year old daughter witnessed this accident first hand and it was very traumatic to her,” said Brenda Vega Cruz. “She stood and rendered aid to Mr. Portillo until emergency crews arrived. We even went to St. Francis to check on him.”
“The passenger in the car fled the scene running,” explained Cruz.
2UrbanGirls reached out to Councilwoman Emma Sharif who had no comment on the incident but we were successful in reaching a city administrator on the matter.
“I can not comment on personnel matters,” said City Manager Craig Cornwell when asked if McKenzie was disciplined. Compton employees share she is still at work.
The City retained the legal services of Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP which filed an Answer, raising, as one of more than forty affirmative defenses to the Complaint, that Mr. Portillo may have contributed to his own death by failing to exercise reasonable care in the operation of his person and/or bicycle, thereby barring his heirs from recovering damages from the City.
The trial is set to begin in August 2021.
**update 12/3/2020**
Tene Kishan has been dismissed from the lawsuit by the plaintiffs attorneys.
32 Comments
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Compton taxpayers should not be paying to defend these employees. They were in a personal vehicle. And they violated the terms of employment by not informing the City when this happened. They should have been terminated so they can pay for their own defense.
Well it seems they’ve conveniently swept it under the rug. And as usual the taxpayers will forget and keep quiet about it. Where are the Concerned Citizens?
Continue the cover up! It’s amazing how they did not allow public comment after the cover up of the Century. I guess they did not want the public to hear about Killer Kim and her accomplice. It has been highly speculated in the community that the fleeing witness may have been Kim’s bestie Michelle Chambers. Why else would she be the only director spared in the layoff when she directs a grant funded program that hasn’t had any grants in about a decade. Reaks of a cover up and citizens who pay taxes need to know how their tax dollars are being spent on lawsuits to attack and protect their friends and enemies.
Word is Tene swears she was not in the car. Who was? Who had the most to lose? Who would run from the scene of a vehicular homicide? Word on the street is it was MICHELLE CHAMBERS and everyone knows that Kim and Michelle are thick as “Thieves” in a literal sense. Everyone wants to know. I smell a cover up! From the roota to the toota!
If she wasn’t in the car, how did the Portillo family’s attorney get it? The city provided 40 responses to the lawsuit and didn’t mention that she wasn’t in the car nor did they make an issue out of Kim being in her personal vehicle.
More info for nosy people
1. Go here to la county court website
http://www.lacourt.org/casesummary/ui/index.aspx?casetype=familylaw
2. Search for case #: 20STCV07842
Let’s see how this council responds to “not knowing any of this”! I see the item is now on the agenda now that the public has been made aware. How timely. It would still be a secret if someone had not let the cat out of the bag. What’s done in the dark will come to light. Council didn’t fire Craig a month ago but they sure should be firing him now for keeping such a deep dark expensive secret. Who voted to hire and pay the lawyer? This has been going on for more than a year now and lawyers have been being paid. He should be fired now like he should have been fired before. Let’s just wait and see. #noconfidence #failuretogovern
word on the curb is the employee didn’t report to the city and they found out after the lawsuit was filed.
So there are two employees then (kim mckenzie and tene) on work time because june 19, 2019 is a thursday and keeping this quiet. Hmmm, will kim be fired or forced to resigned?
does the city cover all employees using their personal cars for city related errands?
Kim is a director. She probably gets an auto allowance
I agree that Craig corndog should’ve been relieved of his city manager position. He has gotten too political in handling city business and then blatantly pandering to selected elected officials.
God! Has anyone seen the fuckin infomercial about the bonds between him and Aja brown? That crap gives George Foreman’s grill a run for his money.
Hey Tana, district 3 council member, yeah u. U ever listen to what u say on the council? Just jabbering. U asked for dump tickets right with the screaming eagle dump contract. Remember? U voted for it. You ever got your dump tickets weekly or monthly or whatever. There was an opportunity to rid of the City Manager. You didn’t.
There was the opportunity to delay the screaming eagle contract. You didn’t.
You’re being played as a clown and you don’t even know it. That’s a crying shame.
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Compton is a sad tiny town. My family moved away from that place in 1955. Compton was once a jewel. Now its occupied and run by sneaky rascals.
Damn!
Kim can stop hiding her naps under the rainbow Aunt Jemima banana wrap on her head now the cats outta the bag. Driving too fast, going nowhere, and ends up doing shit anyway. She has got some major hokups to not be fired during the budget cut.
If u was Tene, i jumped my ass outta the car too. The bitch is vindicative and crazy!!
The city manager corndick probably knew about this shit months ago with the DMV record pull for city employees that he placed on an agenda item that passed a few months ago. Compton had a chance to boot his ass and his team a few months ago.
Bills aren’t being paid in City Hall again. What a fucked up City!
Whom ever posted the comment suggesting they have identified the people involved in this accident is ludicrous.
By the city response and the law firm they hire; you all from Chambers Brown camp are mad this situation was exposed to the public.
Kim do nothing but sit at that desk in that big office and get paid good money for doing nothing how do you feel sleeping at night knowing you took someone life you need to be fired Immediately
It is sad to hear about a death of a person, but to give a reason such as “he waived his rights” to allow the car to go first. The person was in the crosswalk and the car did not slow down. Were the folks in the car distracted or what? What city business was the driver and passenger coming from and trace of their day and calendars are needed. If the driver was on lunch, then they are not covered under the city’s legal responsibility. So sad for both families.
I hear there is a video and this can be called the cover up of the century next to the other vehicular murder committed by a drunk driving fire fighter. First responders have a code. They let plenty of time pass by before doing the breathalyzer so he would be just below the legal limit. He killed someone on the weekend and was back at work on Monday. Is he fit for duty?
This was a very sad situation and nobody wants to hear or see someone killed, however before spreading false information and smearing names that have no clear evidence that the accused individuals were even involved everyone who is pointing fingers and jumping to conclusions should wait and make sure these accusations are valid!! It’s terrible how quick people are willing to believe anything before there are any facts behind it. Hate is real!!!! Has the thought crossed anybody’s mind that they may be accusing the wrong people???
As of now these are the individuals listed in the Portillo family’s lawsuit. What would someone gain by misrepresenting their identity/place of employment to investigating authorities? That’s a crime in itself. If these are the wrong people being accused, as you suggest, the law firm should be sued for defamation of character.
Question: If church lady Kim McKenize hit Mr. Portillo by accident why did the passenger in her vehicle fled the scene and abruptly resign as dear Emma Sharif lasion????????♂️
Why didn’t the incompetent city attorney Damon Brown do his due diligence by placing Kim on administrative leave and investigate this situation ????????♂️
Compton leadership is one BIG joke, just ask anyone.
Aja I guess the OLD FOLKS caused this too!
I’m praying you all go to jail, every last one of you jokers!
Put her up under the jail house for killing an innocent man please family sue her and her husband for everything they have
So this is another Chambers Cover Up! Killer kim should have been laid off because she has had no funding for a grant funded department. She has no grants for her salary or for her staffs salaries. Her whole department is funded out of the general fund which is unheard of. She is sitting in the nicest office in the city where entire staff was laid off. Should have been gone years ago, but she still has a full staff because she is chambers best friend and campaigned for her. She killed someone down the street from her house and lied about being on the job because she was going to be sued and lose her house. No as a favor for her dirty deeds the city is defending her and taking on the liability at the tax payers expense. The ruthless horrible attorney stating the man was at fault, lost his right of way and was responsible for his own death is shameful considering the man had 3 young daughters. Why did Emma’s liaison run from the scene? Is Emma a part of the cover up? Did the Mayor and other council members have a hand in the cover up? Craig should be fired if he did not inform the other council people. He is going to bankrupt the city with outside attorneys fees and failed lawsuits. How much has the city spent on lawyers to defend this case so far? If the council did not know how did he spend the money without authorization? We know he spends tax payers dollars to carry out his own vendettas in lawsuits. How much has the city really spent on lawyers to keep Kareemah from having her job? I’m sure with legal fees and settlements we are looking at close to $10,000,000. If that’s incorrect what is the amount? Inquiring minds want to know.
If the cyclist was jay walking it’s understandable. How can you explain that he caused his own death while crossing in a crosswalk and giving up his right of way? You’re defending City employees. What if Ms. McKenzie was the cyclist and Mr. Portillo was driving and hit her. Did she give up her right of way? You leave the car behind and you run. Who is driving the car? What if the attorney was crossing the street in a marked crosswalk and a car barrels through him. Did he waive his right of way? Need to look at the evidence. Where was the driver besides the passenger? How fast was she going? It should be no comment by the attorney and not say something like this. We all have rights. At what point does the person give up their rights? Compton has been plaqued by the Sheriff’s department. People should respect one another. Can’t we just all get along?
What you do to hide your evil lie will come to the light you reap what you sow
OMG, are you heartless people really are saying Mr. Portillo cause his own death; did these lawyers go to the same school as Craig Cornwell.
This administration is getting more embarrassing each day….what a joke! None of this so call administration is fit to serve at a monkey camp????????♂️
Seems like a Chambers Cover Up! Kimberly worked in her campaign and they proclaim to be best friends. SMH
This is horrible Why has it taken so long for this info to be released to the citizens of Compton. Did this happen in a city vehicle or personal vehicle?
Unbelievable. Caused his own death per the administration. Only in Compton. My condolences to the family. On a similar note, how much are outside lawyers costing us when the city pays a full complement of in-house lawyers and staff; how much in legal losses has the city paid this administration; how much in car repair claims; and how much is owed or been paid employees suing the city. And now another lawsuit. I bet residents would be staggered by the cost but you will never know because the city clerk’s office does not answer such inquiries timely or at all.