Google Maps To Remove Image Of Slain Teen

The image captures what appear to be police standing around the dead teenager killed in 2009

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A California man has succeeded in getting Google to remove an aerial image on its Maps service that pictures his son’s body after he was shot and killed in 2009.

The Google Maps image shows what appears to be police standing beside railroad tracks near the body of Kevin Barrera, the 14-year-old son of Richmond, Calif. resident Jose Barrera, KTVU reports. The younger Barrera was killed in 2009, and the crime has never been solved.

Jose Barrera, who learned about the image last week, said he’d like it taken down out of respect for his son.

Google Maps Vice President Brian McClendon said in a statement Monday that the company has never done an unscheduled replacement of satellite images — most are replaced every one to three years — but would make an exception in this case and have a new image up in eight days, the Associated Press reports.

[KTVU]