Kin at Slain Youth’s Funeral Plead for Peace : Street violence: Relatives of the Burbank 17-year-old shot in a confrontation with El Segundo teen-agers say they don’t want revenge.

While residents of El Segundo braced for more violence, the family of the Burbank teen-ager shot to death during a confrontation with El Segundo teen-agers last weekend pleaded for peace at an emotional funeral Friday that drew about 150 mourners.

Buried was Jeremy Perales, 17, who was killed while returning Dec. 16 from an outing at Dockweiler State Beach with friends. An El Segundo teen-ager is in custody, suspected of firing the fatal shot while joining other local youths in a caravan of cars that chased the out-of-towners.

“We are not angry,” an aunt of Jeremy’s said at the graveside service at San Fernando Mission Cemetery. “We’re hoping kids on both sides will learn a lesson. This is a tragedy for our family, but our hearts go out to the people of El Segundo, too. We are not out to get revenge.”

Although police said the victim was associated with a Burbank street gang and that retaliation was possible, Jeremy’s family said the shooting had nothing to do with gangs.

His aunt, who declined to give her name, said family members were “stunned and thankful” when they learned that El Segundo residents had taken up a collection to help pay for Jeremy’s funeral. “It won’t bring him back, but every little bit helps,” she said.

Jeremy’s sobbing mother, Wanita Vasques, embraced her son’s coffin and said quietly, “I love you, Jeremy. You know that, mi hijo (my son).”

About half the mourners were young people, many of whom wiped away tears throughout the service. One wore a gray sweat shirt with the words “RIP J. PERALES” on the back. Others recalled the student at Monterey Continuation High School as a typical teen-ager and “fun-loving kid.”

Across the county, residents of El Segundo remained concerned, as they had been all week, that more violence could follow the weekend confrontation, which also wounded a 21-year-old Burbank man who was riding with Jeremy in the back of a pickup truck.

Since then, police patrols in El Segundo have been doubled, high school sporting events have been moved out of town and more than 1,200 of the city’s 15,200 residents have attended community meetings to discuss their worries with police and school officials.

Jeremy’s aunt said she was shocked when she first heard how frightened of a retaliatory strike some El Segundo residents had become and how much of an impact the shooting has had on the city.

“In El Segundo, they are in turmoil,” said the woman. “For us, this is a daily occurrence.”

Junior Perales, 20, who was also in the truck when his brother was killed, said he feels many conflicting emotions: anger, fear, shame and sorrow.

“We’re not going to go out there and shoot,” Perales said. “I don’t believe in that. But if someone else (from around here) goes down there and does something, there’s nothing I can do.”

Junior Perales said he was angry about the shooting but was not blaming all El Segundo young people for the confrontation.

“It was both our faults,” he said. “Some white people came over and started mad-dogging us. My brother said, ‘Do you have a problem?’ Then it all started.”

According to police, the confrontation began shortly before 1 a.m. outside a 7-Eleven store when the two groups began exchanging insults and throwing a beer can back and forth at each other. Police said that both groups had been drinking and that the El Segundo youths had been at a post-basketball game party. Several carloads of El Segundo teen-agers chased the Burbank group out of town, with a 17-year-old from El Segundo allegedly firing a .22 rifle.

Charles Mathews, attorney for the suspect, said Friday that there might have been a handgun in a second El Segundo vehicle and that it might have been used to kill Perales. Police, however, said their investigation has turned up no second weapon.