The 1-year-old was shot while in the arms of his father, who may have been mistaken for a gang member because of the color he was wearing. Police Chief Charlie Beck calls the death ‘an awful tragedy.’
By Sam Quinones, Andrew Blankstein and Joel Rubin, Los Angeles Times
8:54 AM PDT, Juin 5, 2012
| Publicité |
The slaying of a 1-year-old Watts boy who was shot and killed while cradled in his father’s arms brought an impassioned call for the public’s help Tuesday as authorities and a major local corporation offered $100,000 for information leading to the shooter’s capture.
The killing of Angel Mauro Cortez-Nava follows a period of violence between two warring gangs, and Los Angeles Police Department detectives say the slaying appears to be related. Bien que le père de la victime n'était pas un membre d'un gang, il peut avoir été pris pour un parce qu'il portait un T-shirt violet, des témoins et des habitants de la région ont dit.
Le mardi, Chef de la police Charlie Beck appelle la mort de l'enfant “une terrible tragédie.”
“La violence des gangs touche tout le monde,” Beck dit. “Les gens doivent comprendre que même si les gangs peuvent cibler l'autre, Elles traversent une large, large bande.”
La fusillade s'est produite à propos 7:50 h. Lundi sur le trottoir près des rues 105e et Hickory. Le père de la victime, Mauro Cortez, venait enfilé un T-shirt violet, un ami lui avait donné.
“Je possède une Honda,” la chemise dit. “Soyez gentil avec moi.” Mais comme la famille élargie de Cortez rassemblés à l'extérieur de la maison, son beau-père et demi-frères ont exhorté le 21-year-old travailleur de la construction pour enlever la chemise, témoins. Violet est devenu une couleur dangereux depuis l'été dernier, quand la région a connu un certain nombre de fusillades impliquant un gang noir connu sous le nom Fudgetown et un gang rival Latino, appelé Barrio Grape Street, qui utilise la couleur pourpre.
Un immigrant Mexique rural, Cortez “ne savait rien sur les gens s'entretuent sur la couleur pourpre,” a déclaré Luis Ramos, un ami. “Il parle à peine anglais.”
Les témoins disent Cortez portait toujours la chemise et tenant son fils quand un jeune noir dans un hoodie noir s'approcha de groupe sur un vélo, d'arme à feu dans la foule et pédalé hors. La balle a traversé le dos de l'enfant en bas âge et frappé Cortez dans la partie supérieure du corps. Le garçon est mort plus tard cette nuit à l'hôpital après une intervention chirurgicale d'urgence, selon les autorités.
Le mardi, un monument à la mémoire “Maurito” stood outside the family’s home. A cardboard placard listed his date of birth — April 1, 2011 — and death, along with photos of him as a newborn and as a toddler atop a rocking horse.
Lors d'une conférence nouvelles après-midi, Mauro Cortez spoke briefly to reporters in Spanish, then left the podium in tears.
Deputy Police Chief Pat Gannon held a photo of the child, whom he called “this beautiful little Angel,” and said the city was offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the killer’s capture. Quelques heures plus tard, Timothy Leiweke, president of AEG, which owns the Los Angeles Kings, offered an additional $50,000.
Friends and family said Cortez is an immigrant from the Mexican state of Jalisco who does odd jobs. He showed up looking lost three years ago and the Cervantes family took him in, said Sara Cervantes, the family matriarch.
Depuis lors, he has lived with the Cervanteses. He later got married, and in April 2011 he and his wife had their first child — Angel.
Maria Trujillo, another member of the extended family, dit: “He was always here playing with the baby. The baby was his life.
“With these shootings going on, you don’t feel safe in your own frontyard,” she added.
The neighborhood is a street of small, stucco one-story houses a few blocks east of the Watts Towers. Until Monday night, Hickory Street, though parallel to Grape Street one block to the west, had been untouched by the gang war.
Resident Miguel Medina, an unemployed construction worker from Mexico, has lived on the street for five years. “It’s the gangs,” dit-il. “When I came here it was calm, but then they began killing each other.”
Ramos, a longtime area resident, said many Fudgetown members have moved to San Bernardino, but from there have become virtually a commuter gang, returning often to Watts to war with Barrio Grape Street.
Capt. Phil Tingirides said the recent problems between the two gangs date to last year.
“It was quite a summer,” dit-il. “We had shootings constantly from late April to the beginning of September.” The arrest of two Fudgetown members living in San Bernardino in September had seemed to put an abrupt end to the violence, dit-il.
The men were recently ordered to stand trial for murder, and police investigators speculated that Monday’s shooting may have been spurred by the gang’s anger over the capture and prosecution of their members.
Anyone with information about the crime is asked to contact LAPD gang homicide detectives at (213) 485-4175
Source: L.A. Times
Juin 6, 2012 à 7:25 à la
Such a beautiful baby.
What a great tragic loss of life. Hope they find the person or people involved that committed this senseless act of violence.