Death of Boy, 13, Stirs Anti-Gang Gathering

The mother of a slain seventh-grader listened tearfully from the back of a schoolroom Wednesday night as El Sereno parents were urged to take responsibility for keeping their children away from gangs infesting their neighborhood east of downtown Los Angeles.

“You can’t do anything about that one,” said gang intervention expert Bud Fry, referring to the gang shooting spree that killed 13-year-old Mario Martinez as he walked home Monday from El Sereno Junior High School. “But there are many things you can do to see it doesn’t happen again.”

After listening for a few minutes, Arcelia Martinez slipped from the room and sat quietly outside. Fry’s suggestions were valid, she said.

But although she worked hard to steer her son away from gangs--even to the point of persuading him to sign a personal “contract” to be in each day by 7 p.m.--that hadn’t stopped him from being hit by a stray bullet fired in a sudden gang gunfight.

The somber session at El Sereno Junior High School came hours after Los Angeles police detectives arrested an 18-year-old gang member in connection with Mario’s murder and announced they are searching for a 19-year-old accomplice.

Investigators said Rene Jimenez of El Sereno was booked on one count of murder and six counts of attempted murder--one for each person riding in a car that Jimenez and another man fired at Monday afternoon.

The other suspect was identified as Joaquin Alvarado, also of El Sereno. Police said he faces similar charges.

Detectives said the pair may have fired as many as two dozen shots at the car, which they had mistakenly thought carried rival gang members.

Jimenez apparently emptied a .25-caliber semi-automatic at the car while Alvarado fired a more powerful 9-millimeter automatic pistol, Suter said.

One of those bullets is believed to have traveled about 300 feet down Richelieu Avenue and struck Mario in the head. Two friends walking home with him from junior high school dived into shrubbery in a nearby front yard to escape the gunfire.

But other witnesses were able to offer a description of the gunmen and of the car, Detective Robert Suter said.

Suter said Jimenez was arrested without a struggle shortly before noon at a house where he was sleeping.

Wednesday night’s anti-gang meeting had been planned long before Monday’s fatal shooting. Organizers Donna Alvarado and Steven Ochoa, police officers assigned to the Hollenbeck Station, said the session was the fourth and final one held at El Sereno Junior High this month.

About 250 parents attended presentations in English and Spanish. But the turnout was disappointing in light of the gangs’ dangerous presence in El Sereno, parent Angie Hidalgo said.

“There aren’t enough parents involved. That’s why the shootings go on,” said Hidalgo, the mother of two sons.

Members of the Martinez family said friends and neighbors contributed more than $500 Wednesday for Mario’s funeral in donation cans placed at Johnnie’s Market in El Sereno. Burial plans are incomplete, however, they said.

“The boy who is in jail now is suffering,” said Mario’s sister, Patricia Cummings-Martinez. “His parents are suffering. My parents are suffering. We’re all suffering.”