Crime

Two suspects have been convicted of pimping and pandering, sexual assault involving a minor and human trafficking, culminating in a 13-month investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department’s Human Trafficking Unit and the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office

Brian Smith, of Los Angeles, and Lashanay Cohill, of Indio, were convicted in September of kidnapping two girls and forcing them to work as prostitutes. When the girls refused, Smith reportedly beat them on the back, legs and buttocks with a device made from wire hangers that he referred to as the “green monster”.

One of the girls was kidnapped form Mohave, California, while the other had been kidnapped in South Los Angeles. Detectives from the LAPD’s Southwest and 77th Street Divisions had been investigating the two kidnappings separately when they realized there were similarities, and the case was turned over to the LAPD’s Human Trafficking Unit. Smith and Cohill allegedly worked together to kidnap the girls and held them at an undisclosed location in South Los Angeles.

Anyone with information about incidents of Human Trafficking is asked to contact detectives at (213)486-0910.