Two men booked on suspicion of murder in shooting of Anaheim girl

The girls were playing in front of their Anaheim apartment when a man stepped out of a white car with a gun.

As shots rang out, neighbors screamed at their children to hit the ground.

Ximena Meza ran for her front door, but didn’t make it. She was pronounced dead from a bullet wound to her chest less than an hour later.

She was 9 years old.

Even in the “flatlands” of Anaheim, which has suffered a rash of gang violence and police shootings, the girl’s slaying on Wednesday evoked anger and alarm.

On Saturday, Anaheim police said they had arrested two gang members in the killing.

Ricardo Cruz, a 19-year-old Buena Park resident, and Alfredo Miguel Aquino, 20, of Anaheim, were arrested late Friday night and booked on suspicion of murder, according to Anaheim Police Chief Raul Quezada.

Quezada announced the arrests at a news conference Saturday afternoon, flanked by Ximena’s parents and extended family in Brookhurst Community Park. He said Cruz was on parole at the time of his arrest and Aquino was on probation. Both men were being held at the city lockup on $1-million bail.

Quezada did not say which of the suspects is accused of firing the shots, or how close the girls were to the men being targeted.

Residents say the neighborhood on West Greenacre Avenue has been a quiet, family-friendly place, with children and teenagers converging at Brookhurst Community Park to play sports. Police say the area is claimed by a street gang called CKA.

Anaheim police described the shooting as “gang motivated.”

Quezada said officers have stepped up patrols in the neighborhood.

He declined to answer reporters’ questions about details of the shooting — including a motive and who the targets of the shooter were — saying the investigation was ongoing.

“We know there were many people here at the park who were playing softball, who were playing football, who were at the park, who may have seen exactly what happened,” Quezada said. “We are asking for that information.”

He asked that people with information call 1-855-TIP-OCCS. More suspects may be identified, he said. The city has offered a $50,000 reward.

“The Anaheim community is standing with the Meza family,” Mayor Pro Tem Kris Murray said at the news conference. “And we’re going to do everything we can to comfort them, and keep them in our hearts and prayers. But we also ask that folks please support this financially.”

She asked people to donate under Ximena’s name at the fundraising website www.gofundme.com.

Mayor Tom Tait said the entire city was grieving over this “loss of innocence.”

Police said Ximena’s parents did not want to speak to reporters. Ximena’s aunt, Alexandra Ortiz, broke into tears looking at mug shots of the suspects.

“She was an angel,” she said. “I wanted to look at the eyes of the people that killed my girl. How could they do that?”

joe.mozingo@latimes.com

Twitter: @joemozingo

Times staff writers Emily Foxhall and James Queally contributed to this report.