Mourners remember 10-year-old girl who died after fight

As hundreds of mourners gathered at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery on Saturday, Joanna Ramos’ grieving mother fought back tears and said she would always remember her 10-year-old daughter as a “good and happy little girl who dreamed of being a singer and a star.”

“What happened to Joanna could happen to anybody,” Cecilia Villanueva, 41, said before the service. “Parents need to be careful and try to watch over their children, even when they are at school with friends.”

Relatives, friends and strangers assembled at the cemetery’s chapel for a funeral service to honor the fifth-grader, who died after a fight with a classmate near their elementary school in Long Beach.

The service began at 6 p.m. with a video chronicling Joanna’s life and a recording of Whitney Houston’s song “I Will Always Love You,” one of Joanna’s favorites.

Under the glare of news cameras, mourners shuffled past the girl’s open casket. Joanna wore a white dress that she wore last fall to a relative’s quinceañera, white socks and Hello Kitty earrings.

One woman cried inconsolably. Others muttered personal prayers and farewells. Joanna’s older sister Diana, 19, placed a Minnie Mouse doll in the casket, which was flanked by bouquets and a studio portrait of Joanna illuminated by candles.

A memorial service will be held at Hollywood Forever at 3 p.m. Sunday, followed by a burial.

Between every wooden pew in the chapel hands were held and heads were bowed or buried on comforting shoulders as Joanna was remembered as a vibrant girl who enjoyed reading adventure books about kids her own age and learning the latest dance steps.

Among those who came to share prayers and sort through their emotions was Andres Sosa, 43, who, like some others, had never met the girl.

“I worry about my own kids all the time,” Sosa said. “You never know how a little fight will turn out.”

Some mourners tried not to dwell on the circumstances of Joanna’s death, focusing instead on the loving girl they remembered. Just before the service, Joanna’s older sister Vanessa Urbina, 17, leaned against an ivy-covered chapel wall and closed her eyes to visualize better times.

“Joanna used to dance around my 1-year-old son, Jacob, to calm him down,” she recalled. “Ten years from now, I’ll tell him about what happened to Joanna and about how fighting is not OK.”

Family friend Rebecca Del Cid said, “It’s all like a dream. Only a week ago this would have been unimaginable.”

Authorities say Joanna died Feb. 24 of blunt-force trauma to the head after a preplanned fight with an 11-year-old classmate in an alley near Willard Elementary School. Some relatives believe the girls were fighting over a boy. Villanueva, however, had her doubts: “I still don’t know exactly what happened.”

Joanna fell ill after the fight, which lasted about a minute, and died hours later. Her death was ruled a homicide, and detectives are investigating whether classmates goaded the girls through social media or in person. No arrests have been made in the ongoing investigation.

Long Beach police called the case highly unusual and delicate, given the ages of the victim and the possible suspect. Officials said they were not even sure whether criminal charges were warranted.

Joanna’s family had moved to Long Beach from Hawaiian Gardens in December 2010. Joanna enjoyed watching “Glee” and telenovelas, especially “Atrevete A Sonar” (Dare to Dream).

Joanna would have turned 11 on March 12, her mother said, and had plans to visit Knott’s Berry Farm with relatives and friends.

“My daughter is no longer with us,” her mother said. “We’re still going to celebrate her birthday at Knott’s Berry Farm.”

louis.sahagun@latimes.com