LOS ANGELES – Councilmember Ysabel Jurado today directed the City of Los Angeles to designate the intersection outside the LAPD Metropolitan Detention Center as “Wakiesha Wilson Square,” honoring the 10-year anniversary of Wakiesha’s unreported death while detained.
This designation at the site of her death memorializes her family’s traumatic experience receiving no notice of her death and learning of Wakiesha’s passing only after conducting their own four-day search. Through this designation, Councilmember Jurado recognizes that this devastating loss reflects an operational failure in law enforcement, and she called for improved transparency, oversight, accountability, and basic human dignity in our custodial systems.
“What happened to Wakiesha and her family is not an isolated tragedy but a painful pattern that we will not tolerate,” said Councilmember Jurado. “Designating this square outside the site of her passing honors a life and legacy that continues to demand better of us. Los Angeles will gain a permanent, visible reminder of who she was, the people she loved, and the change her story inspires.”
“Last year we stood with Wakiesha’s family to demand more transparency and accountability for those who lose their life in custody and their families. We won that fight through the strength of Wakiesha’s memory and her family’s unwavering love,” said Assemblymember Isaac Bryan, author of AB 1269, also known as Wakiesha’s Law. “Dedicating this square in her honor is an enduring reminder that our public policies and systems must be rooted in the people who are most impacted by them.”
Following Wakiesha’s passing, her family members transformed their grief into sustained advocacy, addressing systematic gaps in public safety and demanding justice. To adjourn Friday’s City Council meeting, Councilmember Jurado invited Wakiesha’s loved ones and community organizers from Black Lives Matter - Los Angeles to express their grief and speak to her enduring impact.
“The naming for Wakiesha set in stone for us what’s unremovable, and we appreciate all the hard work from everybody,” said Sheila Hines. “I know Wakiesha Wilson, my niece, is smiling down over everything that we're doing to get justice for her. But the real justice for her would be her being here. So we're doing all we can knowing that that can’t happen, so we just take it step-by-step in honoring her name and doing everything we possibly can do.
Councilmember Jurado’s motion will erect a permanent ceremonial sign at the intersection of Los Angeles Street and Temple Street at the LAPD Metropolitan Detention Center, where Wakiesha was detained on a minor offense.