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Brandon Woodard’s background seemed picture perfect. Go figure. He’s a young Black man, 31 years old. He grew up in L.A. living the best life his parents could give him. And it was pretty good. Very good. There was private Campbell Hall High School. And then there was College at Loyola Marymount, at $55,000 a year for tuition. And Brandon’s parents made sure he had his ride – a Range Rover so he could make the rounds of the typical college student’s life. So far, so good. So, how did it go so bad?

EXECUTED ON THE STREETS OF NEW YORK

Brandon ended up executed by a hit man on 58th Street in New York City. There are still pictures. There is moving video. We see the gunman, in Khaki pants, slip his hood over his head and follow Brandon, for about ten minutes, before gliding up to the victim and pulling the trigger on a semi-automatic right into the back of Brandon’s skull. Then – the gunman calmly walks to his getaway car (Lincoln MKZ). His driver pulls into the mid-afternoon traffic. No rush, no squealing tires.

BRANDON AND THE LAW

It turns out Brandon was a second year law student and was a day away from a final exam. So, what’s he doing in New York. And why a professional hit, or at least that’s what it looks like?

Brandon liked the high life. That was true even on the last night of his life. He booked himself a suite that likely clipped him for about $850.00, according to info from the 6 Columbus hotel. He checked out, had breakfast at a French café, where the waiter said he seemed very nervous. But that was just the last night of years of living it up, big parties and fancy clubs and doing all he could to hang out with sports stars and celebrities of every kind. He’d be happy to lay down a big chunk of cash to get just the right table in just the right club.

BRANDON’S TROUBLE

Brandon seemed to get himself in an awful lot of trouble. He had a rap sheet with about 20 convictions. In fact, he had a court date in Beverly Hills on a cocaine possession charge coming up next month. He’d had a felony hit and run. Theft. Burglary. There were domestic violence problems. He got himself thrown out of an Usher concert – and threatened a big-time lawsuit. But, why an execution? And why go to law school? Sure, they’ll let you pay the fee and take the tests. But when it’s time to pass the bar and get a license to practice – a criminal record like Brandon’s is, well, a non-starter. He could NEVER practice law. Or maybe he could pick up some tips on how to do a better job of staying out of the way of the law. (Although, that is a pretty expensive lesson.)

Maybe that was the plan. If he knew the law – would it help him stay out of trouble? It’s hard to tell what he was thinking. Maybe it was just a front – because it turns out, police say, Brandon already had a job.

THE INVESTIGATION

After the hit, Brandon collapsed and blood was everywhere. A skateboarder saw the horror, called 9-1-1 and tried to tell Brandon to hang on. But it was too late. Well, police tracked down the rented getaway car and they’ve interviewed the driver. They’re pulling the case together.

And it looks like Brandon already had a high risk profession – law school could not protect him from the consequences. London’s Daily Mail reports Brandon was a drug mule – carrying packages of illegal substances (could have been pot, or coke, or many more and all of the above) for dealers who paid him what likely was lots of cash in return for the risk.

Newspaper reports say police in LA had confiscated a big chunk of cash from Brandon that was due to his dealers. There’s speculation Brandon made his quick trip to New York to talk things over with his bosses – show them he was still a man who could be trusted. Perhaps there was a way to smooth things over. There was. It was a bullet.

LEGAL TROUBLE RUNS IN THE FAMILY?

Brandon’s mother was the successful head of United International Mortgage, in Southern California. But the state has pulled the mortgage company’s license while it does some investigating. Brandon had a stepfather. And his biological father is a retired attorney, who wonders if he’d been able to spend more time with Brandon things would have been different. And Brandon was father to a little girl.

Friends say Brandon Woodard liked to present himself as an entertainment promoter and an up and coming rap star. And he did become a famous name after all – just not the way he planned – in a shocking, blood soaked execution on the streets of New York.

http://cassandracenteno.com/2012/12/19/brandon-woodard-what-went-wrong/