Slain Teen’s Parents Ask for Answers About Their Son’s Death

Six months have passed since died after being shot in a Poway home. His grieving parents addressed the City Council Tuesday night, asking that authorities prosecute crimes that were committed the night he was shot.

Appearing before the council during the public-comment period, Lisa Lipscomb spoke as her husband Anthony stood by her side. The couple sent a letter to Sheriff Bill Gore last month—copied to the city of Poway—focusing on enforcing the laws that were broken on Nov. 4, the night their son was shot while allegedly smoking marijuana with two other teens.

Lisa Lipscomb told the council that while she appreciates their response and condolences, the concerns in the letter were not addressed.

“In your response after sending your condolence, you close by stating, ‘The City Council remains committed to educating our youth and raising community awareness of the serious health risks associated with drug use.’ ” Lipscomb said. “We respect the sincerity of the comment, but it did not address the subject matter of the letter to Sheriff Gore, which was enforcement of the laws that were violated leading up to our son’s shooting and his death.

“In our letter, we discussed laws pertaining to involuntary manslaughter, possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and leaving out a loaded weapon where juveniles were present. At a minimum, we ask for prosecution for violation of these laws.

“Your response was not only a disservice to us, but it was a disservice to the citizens of Poway. Whatever your motivation was for completely ignoring the core message in our letter, we are here to make very clear our message: Any illegal behavior substantiated by the investigation should be prosecuted, and not set aside for other reasons.”

Lipscomb continued in a voice that began to waver, but did not falter.

“In all honesty, we feel our biggest mistake in this whole nightmare of a process was being patient and expecting that the school, the sheriff and the City Council would do the right thing. Your offices have contracted with the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office for enforcement of the laws of California. Their job is to enforce those laws based on evidence, and not subjective consideration.

“Your offices have control to a great degree as to how the law is enforced in Poway. If you don’t insist that the sheriff enforce the laws aggressively, then incidents such as our son’s death will continue to happen.”

With her husband by her side comforting her, Lisa Lipscomb concluded with a question.

“In closing, we would like to leave with one question to consider: What’s so different about our son that he doesn’t deserve proper investigation and enforcement of the laws? Our kids deserve better, we can’t keep sweeping this under the rug.”

After the Lipscombs returned to their seats, Mayor Don Higginson expressed his condolences.

“Thank you Anthony and Lisa. The council certainly cannot even come close to appreciating the grief that you must feel,” Higginson said, noting that the city received a copy of the Lipscombs’ letter. The captain of the Poway Sheriff’s Station, Mike Hernandez, was present at Tuesday’s meeting, and Higginson said that Libscomb’s comments would be shared with the district attorney’s office. 

Luke Lipscomb was a junior at Poway High School and a member of the lacrosse team. He was shot in the head the evening of Nov. 4 in a house on Midland Road north of Twin Peaks Road. Detectives believe Lipscomb and two other teens were smoking marijuana that may have been laced with something.

Lipscomb may have shot himself while hallucinating, but the details of his shooting have not been released by the Sheriff’s Department.