Cynthia Perez of Los Angeles died of a gunshot wound to the head on Tuesday at 1:15 p.m. at Huntington Hospital in Pasadena, said Assistant Chief Ed Winter of the Los Angeles County coroner's office. Perez was shot while riding in the back seat of her parent's SUV in Highland Park on Monday. According to the Los Angeles Police Department, the assailant opened fire on another motorist, Fabian Aguirre, 33, of Highland Park, who had stopped his pickup alongside the SUV. Both vehicles were at York Boulevard and North Avenue 64, waiting for the light to change.
This is just 2 minutes from where I live. It is normally a relatively safe neighbourhood. I speak of relatively since gangs are infected in most neighborhoods here Los Angeles, except of course the wealthy areas.
A 16 year old boy has been arrested in connection with the Murder. The last two days I have walked past a makeshift memorial to the dead girl and it is extremly distressing. I have a child of my own and to realise this is allowed to happen is unacceptable.
I feel very bad for that family. Only three days ago, their sister, daughter and friend was alive and in one instant her live is destroyed by a thug who could not even shoot the right person and takes out an innocent child.
It is bad enough when innocent adults are victims of gang violence but when our children become innocent victims then its PAST time we all stood up and took responsibility and action for what is happening in our society.
Its not just about gun control, its not just about throwing people in jail. Here i have to add, anyone who shoots anyone deserves to spend the rest of their miserable lives in jail. I think we need to start in elementary schools , teach kids about how to resist gang pressure.
The biggest issue to solving gang violence is to end poverty and to teach parents how to be parents. People are not BORN violent criminals. Society and their families help in that process , along with poor choices. Don't get me wrong, these thugs are responsible for their actions and should be punished accordingly. But it is shortsighted to focus only on punishment and not prevention. Prevention should be just as bigger part of society as punishment.
Unfortunately, people seem to only care about throwing people in jail. It is an understandable impulse after a violent act. Everyone wants to see justice being done. But justice also involves looking at the whole picture. The young person who was arrested for this terrible crime was not born a criminal. There are reasons , NOT EXCUSES, life events, for how and why he became what he is. To prevent anymore such tragedies we all must look at WHY and HOW he became to be what he is.
What happened to that young youth is a tragedy in itself. Yes, hes still alive while that young girl is not, but his life is now ruined in that he will most likely spend the rest of his life in prison. For all purposes his life is indeed over.
However saying that, ALL my sympathy goes to the family of the young woman who lost her life for no logical reason. I will not and cannot walk past the intersection now without remembering it could have just has easily been my son. I can barely imagine the pain and grief that family is going through.
This needs to stop. The violence needs to stop.