LOCAL : Sherman Oaks Pupils Aid Funeral

Classmates of an 11-year-old girl killed in a drive-by shooting were collecting money today to help pay for her funeral, school officials said.

Administrators and students at Riverside Drive Elementary School in Sherman Oaks decided earlier this week to help pay for the funeral of Jasmine Guevara, who was gunned down last Saturday as she and two family members walked along a street in the Pico-Union area of Los Angeles.

Principal Gary Parks said letters were sent home with students on Tuesday asking parents for their help in assisting the victim’s family with the cost of the services, which were conducted this morning.

Parks said he got the idea to raise money for the family after talking with the victim’s mother, Emilia Quintanilla. “The family could use some economic help,” Parks said. “We decided it was appropriate to do this under the circumstances.”

Parks said students who rode the bus with Jasmine from her Los Angeles neighborhood to the Sherman Oaks school as part of a voluntary transfer program had informed a teacher’s aide about the incident.