Killing of boy may be tied to tagging rivalry
The fatal stabbing of a 12-year-old Anaheim boy near his junior high school was apparently motivated by a rivalry between graffiti crews, police said Tuesday.
Juan Martinez died Monday after being stabbed multiple times in the parking lot of an apartment complex across the street from Sycamore Junior High School, where he was a seventh-grader.
Anaheim police arrested Bryan Ocampo, 18, who lives in an apartment complex near the scene, on suspicion of murder Monday night. He was being held without bail Tuesday.
Police said Juan was walking home from school when he and Ocampo confronted each other over a personal dispute that apparently stemmed from their affiliation with rival tagging crews.
They fought, and Ocampo allegedly stabbed Juan in the chest and ran off.
Friends and family members gathered Tuesday at a makeshift memorial of flowers and candles in the parking lot on La Palma Avenue where Juan was attacked. Others posted on a memorial Facebook page for “Lil R2” or “R2D2” as friends called him.
Juan’s siblings described their brother — the youngest boy of six children — as goofy and artistic with a rebellious streak.
His 16-year-old brother, Alex Martinez, said Juan hung around with a tagging crew called Sky’s the Limit, or STL, although he was too young to be a member.
“He stood up for himself, and he stood up for his friends,” Alex said.
Ocampo was a member of a rival crew called Downtown Anaheim, or DTA, Alex said.
People at Ocampo’s residence on Tuesday declined to comment.
On Monday afternoon, a Facebook user identifying himself as Ocampo posted, “Theres a big scene at the end of my street, cops everywhere — what the hell happened?”
In response to another person’s comment that Juan was killed because he dissed OTR, apparently another graffiti crew, and DTA,” the Ocampo Facebook user responded, “Nah, I never heard that.... I didn’t even know who he was.”
The comment about Juan dissing another apparent tagging crew was removed from the page Tuesday afternoon.
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