shooting: June 2008 Archives

Twelve-year-old Albert Garcia and his father Juan were buried in Riverside Monday at a private ceremony.

Montebello police continue to badger the family about talking to the media, while they are apparently making little progress in their investigation. I received this note from a family member regarding police pressure in the case:

The cops told (the family) to not talk to the press because we were going to ruin the case.

I wonder if this is the sort police communication with citizens that Montebello's new city council approves of?

CBS 2 KCAL is reporting two homicides overnight. One in West Covina. Victim there remains unidentified.

The other incident was reported in Altadena. I've got some emails about the Altadena incident that I'll post on the jump. Here's the news story:

LOS ANGELES At least two men were gunned down in Los Angeles Friday night, according to officials.

The first homicide, in West Covina, was reported about 11:20, said West Covina police Lt. Tommy Garcia.

Responding to a "shots fired" call, police found the body of a young man in a yard near 1450 W. Puente Ave.

The victim's name was withheld pending notification of his family.

Meanwhile, in Altadena, another man was fatally shot about 1:10 a.m.

The victim in that shooting was declared dead at the hospital.

The shooting occured in the 100 block of Figueroa Drive, according to Deputy Rick Pedroza of the Sheriff's Headquarter's Bureau.

Detectives are investigating the circumstances that led up to the shooting and searching for a suspect.

As for my emails ...

The video speaks for itself. Albert was shot and killed in Montebello by gang bangers trying to crash a graduation party for a blind girl.

Police have remained completely silent regarding progress of their investigation.

Here are some pictures of Albert Garcia, 12. He and his father were shot and killed Saturday while at a party in Montebello. Police have said little about the case, but indicated Tuesday there are seeking at least three men in conenction with the slaying that may have been the end result of an argument.

The pictures were sent by Albert's mother Willena Garcia. A former employee of the Riverside County SHeriff's department who worked for several years in Temecula. Albert and, his mom, and his 10-year-                                                                                old brother were residents of Hemet.

Albert's family believes they could encouter as much as 20 to 30K in burial expenses and have set up a fund at Wells Fargo.

Albert's uncle Job Armenta remembered his nephew Tuesday. "He was an awesome, awesome little dude."

In an addendum to an earlier letter, Albert's mom wrote about her son's favorite skater, and his infectious smile.

"Albert was a caring boy who wanted to make those around him happy."

Here's the face of the boy who was shot to death at a backyard party in Montebello this weekend.

Albert Garcia, 12, and his father Juan were gunned down at a home on the corner of Madison and Poplar Saturday evening about 11:45 p.m., according to police.

In this picture Albert is third from left. He leaves behind a grieving mother and a 10-year-old brother.

This comes from the mailbag: (Sent by Chrisa Christy an aunt of Albert Garcia)

"Wait! Take a picture of my good side..."  

These were excited words from a vivacious, adventurous, 12 year old boy named Albert Garcia.  He loved his brother, Dominic, 10, and taught him all his best skateboarding tricks much to the weariness of his resilient mother, Willene Garcia.   

Albert, Dominic, and Willene have learned a lot about resilience in the past 8 years.  A single mother, Willene put herself through school to learn computers and eventually obtained a position with the Riverside County Sheriff's Department. 

 
Trying to give her boys a better chance she moved away from the harsh reality of life in the city for a single mom and two young boys all the way to the East Coast.   

"You have to take a chance sometimes.  You never know."  Willene watched her two boys play in the ocean that day, happy and content.  They didn't seem to have a care in the world.  Two weeks after the sun filled day in the Atlantic Ocean, the Garcia family once again faced the smog and congestion of the city.   

The following weekend brought a reconnection with Albert and Dominic's father, Juan Garcia, 44.  The boys had not seen their father in over a year.  With most of Juan's family in Puerto Rico, Albert and Dominic were happy to spend the weekend with their father getting to know his life.   

Albert and Juan Garcia were shot Saturday night, June 21^st 2008, while attending a Quinceañera in the 100 block of East Madison Street in Montebello, California. 

Sunday afternoon Willene Garcia was taken into a small room and shown a "picture" of young Albert Garcia for identification purposes.  He and his father, Juan were pronounced dead at 12:30 a.m. on June 22, 2008 at Beverly Hospital.  

Funeral arrangements are currently scheduled for Albert Garcia to be buried on Friday, June 26 2008 in Riverside. 

A 12-year-old boy visiting from New Jersey and his father were gunned down in a Montebello backyard Saturday night.

The attack outside a home in the 100 block of East Madison in Montebello occurred at a graduation party for the resident's blind daughter. In all four people were shot. The father and son were killed and two others suffered gunshot wounds.

A resident of the home, Maria Soto, said the attack occurred about 9:50 P.m. Saturday night as 70 people gathered in the backyard to celebrate her daughter Rosemary's graduation from High School.

"I heard somebody shout, they shot him," Soto said. "And when I walked out in the backyard there was my nephew with the child in his arms."

Party goers took the mortally wounded boy, identified as "Albert" from New Jersey and his father "Jay" of Ontario to nearby Beverly Hospital where both were pronounced dead.

Monday morning, Albert's blood still stained the dirt surrounding a small rose bush in Soto's backyard.

Going through old clip files today, I decided to pull two ratty envelopes. The first was labeled Crime, Murder, 1967. The second was Crime, Murder, 1967.

Here's a short crime story from May 2, 1968:

'HIPPIE HOUSE'

Monrovian Fatally Shot in Scuffle

A Monrovia youth was shot to death Wednesdat during a fight at a Sierra Madre "hippie" house and police have arrested a 23-year-old man on suspicion of murder.

Fatally wounded in the shooting was George D. Corbin, 19, of 1315 S. Mountain Avenue. He was shot in the upper chest with a .22 caliber pistol.

Booked by Sierra Madre police on charges of murder and assault with intest to commit murder was Bruce Allan Lewis, 535 Brookside Lane, Sierra Madre.

Police said Corbin was pronounced dead at St. Luke Hospital in Pasadena shortly after the shooting.

Another youth -- Michael Fulsom, 19, of 735 E. Beckville St., Duarte -- was shot in the right hand during the scuffle at the Brookside Lane house. He was transported to the County  Hospital prison ward in serious condition.

Detectives said Corbin and four friends, including one girl, were at the Brookside Land house when a fight erupted.

Corbin and Duncan J. Demming Jr., 21, also of 535 Brookside Lane apparently started fighting and Lewis joined in the scuffle.

Fulsom was later booked on several outstanding traffic warrants and Demming was charged with possessing marijuana.

Police said the "hippie" house was in the Sierra Madre Canyon area, whoch used to be an artists colony."

Mayor's son questioned in car theft case.

An unidentified person was detained at Mayor Ron Beilke's home Wednesday as part of an auto theft investigation, authorities said.

<snip>

Beilke said deputies questioned his 17-year-old son, who visited the same house as Sonny Costello, a 19-year-old transient, who is accused of stealing a 2002 Chevy Suburban on Tuesday night.

Monrovia plans outside investigation of claims against PD.

MONROVIA - Police Chief Roger Johnson said Wednesday that an outside agency would investigate sexual harassment allegations contained in a lawsuit filed against a Monrovia police officer.

Rudy Ramirez, 25, a former Monrovia jailer and member of the Monrovia police Explorer program, filed the lawsuit last month. He claims Sgt. Dan Verna sexually abused and harassed him beginning in 2000 while he was a minor until November 2006 when Ramirez was terminated by the department.

"Any of these allegations are going to be reviewed by a law enforcement agency independent of the Police Department to determine if there's been any wrong-doing," Johnson said.

<snip>

To bolster claims in his lawsuit, Ramirez states that Verna helped a suspected gang member, Salvador Parra, get released from Monrovia city jail on two occasions in 2006.

Sheriff's officials on Wednesday said a deputy saw Verna and Parra in 2006 inside of a parked car in Fish Canyon.

On patrol May 2, 2006, Deputy Mike Silva spotted the pair, authorities said. When he saw a gun in the car, the deputy detained Verna and called for backup, said Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Capt. Richard Shaw. 

Man shot and killed in Hacienda Heights.

Police responded to the 1100 block of Finegrove Avenue to reports of shots fired around 9:50 p.m., according to Deputy Aura Sierra of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

They found a Latino man, 30, with multiple gun shots wounds in his torso, Sierra said.

CHiPs OIS follow up; woman identified.

Two CHP officers patrolling the eastbound 10 Freeway just after 11 p.m. initially noticed the woman as she passed them in her car, driving at a high rate of speed, Dolson said.

The officers thought she might have been under the influence, so they pulled her over at Hellman and Garfield avenues, just off the freeway, Dolson said.

When one of the officers approached the vehicle, the woman pulled out the replica handgun, prompting the officer to fire one round, he said.

The fake handgun was later recovered at the scene, said Los Angeles County sheriff's Deputy Oscar Butao.

"It looked exactly like a righteous firing gun," Dolson said. "You would probably have to handle it and examine it for a short time to realize it wasn't real."

A homicide epidemic claimed the lives of three Baldwin Park High School students in the 2007-08 school year.

Yes, epidemic.

Consider the numbers. There are about 5,100 high school students attending various secondary schools in Baldwin Park.

Between September and June, bullets claimed the lives of three of those students. That translates to a homicide rate which is slightly less than Colombia's.

So what's going on?

"I really wish I knew," said Baldwin Park Unified School District Superintendent Mark Skvarna. "Factions are feuding with factions inside and outside the city. Somebody gets upset and this is the result."

Skvarna agreed the killing of Baldwin Park high schoolers is out of control.

"I would have considered one (homicide) an epidemic," Skvarna said. "I don't want to see our community go through that. The frustration level is off the scale."

Family members and friends identified the most recent victim as 16-year-old Ruben Chavera, a student at the Opportunities for Learning Charter School in Baldwin Park. He had previously attended Sierra Vista High School.

This school-year gun violence also claimed the life of Jose Perez, a 16-year-old Baldwin Park High School student who was shot to death outside a home in the 5000 block of Maine Avenue on May 3.

And, in November, Baldwin Park High student Luis Estrada, 14, and his father, Pedro, were gunned down by four attackers in front

Three teens, all former Baldwin Park students, have been arrested in the Estrada case, officials said. A fourth remains at large.

Gang rivalry apparently motivated all the slayings, authorities said.

Baldwin Park recently hired a new police chief - ostensibly to deal with problems like this. New police Chief Lili Hadsell sent phone calls seeking comment for this story to a spokesman.

Baldwin Park police Lt. David Reynoso, Hadsell's flack, said the city's doing everything it can to cut into the gangs that seemingly rule the night these days.

"We've had extra enforcement, the gang units have doubled," Reynoso said. "There's more officers on the street working toward identifying the people behind these crimes; specifically the murders. But we can't be everywhere."

If Hadsell returned my call, she might say that crime stats are a difficult thing to get a handle on anyway, especially when it comes to homicide.

Look at Pasadena this year. No homicides.

By contrast in 2007, the city counted four homicides between January and June.

Community activists and city officials described the downturn in 2008 as a hopeful sign. Pasadena's acting police Chief Christopher Vicino claimed solid police work was largely responsible.

But what if it was something else?

Consider this: On March 25, three men were shot at on North Fair Oaks Avenue near Washington Boulevard in Pasadena. The men were apparently targeted for "no reason at all."

What if they had been hit? What if they had been killed?

Thankfully they weren't. For now, Pasadena smells like roses.

Baldwin Park on the other hand ...

BALDWIN PARK - A spree of violence culminated in the drive-by shooting death of a Baldwin Park teenager in broad daylight Saturday.
The shooting victim, described as a 16-year-old Latino boy, was walking eastbound on Illinois Street between Kenmore Avenue and Idaho Street about 3:47 p.m. when a black, 1980s model sedan drove up and its occupants opened fire, said Los Angeles sheriff's Homicide Detective Jonas Shipe.
"He was struck multiple times and died at the scene," said Shipe, who refused to identify the victim until detectives spoke to his next of kin.
"It was a straight-up gang thing," said Shipe, adding the dead teen was affiliated with a gang.
The victim, who was identified by residents as Ruben Chavira, had been on his way to visit his girlfriend at her home in the 3800 block of Idaho Street when he was shot, said the girlfriend's sister, Veronica Martinez.
"He was a nice guy - I don't think he was involved with gangs," said Martinez, 27. "My sister knew him since fifth grade (at Kenmore Elementary School)."

Two shots to the chest killed a teenager this afternoon on Ohio Street in Baldwin Park. Few details are available. The killing follows night of violence that saw a robbery and two assaults throughout the town.

It's unclear if the shooting is related to a stabbing that occurred early Saturday morning at the Circle K.

Two males with shaved head in a dark sedan were reported leaving the scene.

*Regarding the first comment below: In case you didn't know 187 is the California Penal Code section defining the crime of homicide. In the categories section of the blog I list several such penal code sections like 187, including 211 for armed robbery and 245 for assault with a deadly weapon.

Hope that clears the confusion.

This comes from reporter Amanda Baumfeld. It's the details of a shooting that occurred Wednesday afternoon in South El Monte:

SOUTH EL MONTE - Detectives are searching for a suspect who gunned down and killed a businessman in his office Wednesday, officials said.

Lam Michael, 39, was shot several times when a male suspect walked into his office at Fashion Icon Inc., a garment business at 2459 Merced Ave., said Lt. David Coleman of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

The shooting occurred around 2:30 p.m. and Michael was pronounced dead at the scene about 20 minutes later, officials said.

"We don't know the cause or reason for the shooting," said Coleman. "It could be a myriad of reasons."

The suspect is described as an Asian male, about 5 feet 9 inches tall, between the age of 20 and 25, according to Coleman. Police believe he ran from the scene.

There were about 20 workers inside Fashion Icon at the time of the killing, Coleman said. No one else was injured.

Repeated calls to the business for comment went unanswered Thursday.

It does not appear to be a gang-related shooting, Coleman said.

"He was just a businessman who was shot," Coleman said. "It is probably safe to assume it was related to some specific incident."

Some evidence has been recovered from the scene, as well as surveillance video, Coleman said.

It was business as usual Thursday afternoon on Merced Avenue where the garment manufacturer is among a variety of companies. The only remnant of a crime scene was tattered yellow police tape behind.

Many workers at surrounding businesses were unaware of the crime.

Oscar Serrano, owner of Art & Design Installations Inc. located down the block, said he heard there was shooting but knew no details.

"It's not a good neighborhood but it's not a real bad neighborhood," Serrano said. "It's strange that the shooting happened during the day, you normally hear about them at night."

In the course of researching a column for Friday's paper, I ended up interviewing Munir Sirhan, brother of Sirhan Sirhan, the accused assassin of Robert F. Kennedy who died 40 years ago Friday.

Munir had some interesting things to say and introduced me to some people who believe there's more to his brother's story than the lone gunman narrative.

Among those taking up Munir's cause are Summer Reese, who is affiliated with KPFK radio, and Dr. William Pepper, who has a pretty interesting history of his own, and knew both Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy.

Pepper and several other researchers interested in the Kennedy assassination are getting together tonight near LAX to discuss new theories and information that's become available in recent months.

Here's a YouTube video about the organization known as COPA.  

Herbert McClain, Jr. Lorenzo Newborn and Karl Holmes were convicted for their roles in the shooting deaths of three innocent teens on Halloween night 1993. All were members of the P9 set of of PDL. They set out to avenge a shooting earlier Halloween night and throught the trick-or-treaters were members of the Altadena Block Crip gang.

I covered the original shooting and subsequently attended the entire criminal trial and both penalty phases. The History Channel treatment of the case is as good as any treatment. This is part one of five parts.