In three months, Sevon Boles' lease would have expired, allowing him to leave the Willow Pointe at Lindale apartment complex.

Ten days ago, he left the complex gates for the last time – on a stretcher, bleeding out from multiple gunshot wounds. He died at a local hospital the night of June 22 at age 26.

"He was trying to get out of there," said Boles' mother, Shirley Love. "Not nice. No peace. Too much violence."

Boles was the second young man shot to death at the 210-unit complex on Sunnyslope Drive, near the Florin Towne Center, in as many months.

Curtis Anderson, 20, was fatally shot April 29. Sacramento County sheriff's detectives arrested 26-year-old Jamaral Smith on suspicion of killing Anderson; Boles' killer remains unknown.

Detectives have not determined a motive for the shooting or identified a suspect, said sheriff's Sgt. Tim Curran.

Shirley Love and her husband, Alfred, helped Boles move into Willow Pointe about three months ago. It didn't take them long to form an opinion about the complex.

"I didn't like it," Alfred Love said. "Those groups that sit there and stare at you – give you the eye."

Boles told his parents he wanted out. The constant noise and violence made every night "sound like the Fourth of July over there," Alfred recalled his son saying.

Since Boles' death, there's been a frustrating kind of silence at Willow Pointe. Sheriff's homicide detectives couldn't find any witnesses in the massive complex – even though the shooting occurred before 11 p.m.

"Everybody knows but nobody's talking, and that's the problem," Alfred Love said. "These people rule by terror over in that complex."

Then he corrected himself: "There's lots of talk going around – just not to the police."

Willow Pointe's on-site manager did not return a phone call from The Bee. A sheriff's Problem-Oriented Policing deputy familiar with the complex said new management has tried to improve the living conditions there, but officials are battling an ingrained reputation.

Boles was no stranger to crime. He had a history in Sacramento County, but not of violent crime, according to Superior Court records. His last conviction came in 2007, for felony possession of a controlled substance.

Alfred Love said Boles struggled with marijuana use but was in a rehabilitation class and doing well before he was killed.

Sheriff's detectives do not believe Boles was engaged in criminal activity when he was shot, Curran said.

Alfred Love described his son as a hard worker who got his first job mowing lawns when he was 9. He had a "Kool-Aid smile" and many friends. In addition to his parents, he leaves behind four young children, two brothers and three sisters.

"I'm hurt, and I'm angry," Shirley Love said. "This is a soul taken away from us unnecessarily – a good soul that meant well for people. … I can't express to you what it's like to feel the feeling we feel right now."

It is the second time Alfred and Shirley Love have lost a son to street violence. On Dec. 12, 1990, their son Rodney Powell was gunned down in a drive-by shooting at Florin Road and Stockton Boulevard – one-third of a mile from the scene of Boles' shooting.

Previously affiliated with gangs, Powell was an 18-year-old aspiring rapper on the verge of agreeing to produce rap music with anti-gang and anti-drug lyrics, according to a Bee account published after Powell's slaying.

His little brother, Boles, was 7 years old.

Powell's killer also remains at large. Anyone with information about either homicide is asked to call sheriff's detectives at (916) 874-5115 or Crime Alert at (916) 443-HELP. Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.

Call The Bee's Kim Minugh, (916) 321-1038.