Target Areas Free of Killings on Easter : Gangs: But one homicide mars what community activists had hoped would be a three-day holiday weekend without street violence.

There were no killings Easter Sunday or the day before in areas targeted for an anti-violence campaign by religious and community activists.

But one homicide involving gang members, and numerous non-fatal shootings, marred what many hoped would be a violence-free, three-day holiday weekend in South Los Angeles.

Ironically, one of the shootings occurred next to Leimert Park, where two weeks earlier the “No Killing Weekend” drive in South Los Angeles was announced by church leaders. That fatal drive-by shooting occurred a few blocks away on the first day of the campaign.

Nevertheless, some police officers expressed surprise that there was not more mayhem, and leaders of the campaign vowed to continue bombarding the area with anti-violence messages via the media, word of mouth and volunteers posting flyers.

“We must continue to . . . work and fight with everything we can to help answer our prayers,” said the Rev. Cecil (Chip) Murray, pastor of First African Methodist Episcopal Church and a chief organizer of the weekend effort. “God is not a magician. God is a miracle worker.”

On Monday, two members of First AME were at the park talking to young people who gather there as a part of the church’s ongoing effort to push youths toward positive activities. Murray said 200 members of churches and community groups will meet this week to plan anti-violence activities.

The targeted areas for the “No Killing Weekend” were neighborhoods south of Washington Boulevard, where gang violence has been a problem in the past, Murray said.

Residents in the Boyle Heights area of East Los Angeles, where a 3-year-old was killed in gang gunplay, also had called for a cease-fire for the Easter weekend.

There were no killings in Boyle Heights during the 72 hours, but police said gang-related shootings in the neighborhood went unabated.

The single fatal shooting in South Los Angeles occurred Friday, 9 1/2 hours after the “No Killing Weekend” began. The victim, Fernando Mejinez, 25, died Sunday.

Detective Lionel Robert of the LAPD’s South Bureau homicide section, said Mejinez was drinking beer with five other men on West 41st Street, across the street from Manual Arts High School, at 9:35 p.m. when a car pulled up with its headlights off.

Someone inside asked the men if they were affiliated with a certain gang, Robert said. When the men answered that they were with another gang, he said, gunfire burst from inside the car.

Mejinez, he said, was struck once in the head and once in the torso and died Sunday at 11:20 a.m. at County USC Medical Center.

The shooting at Leimert Park occurred at 12:45 a.m. Sunday when a pedestrian walked up to two men sitting in a car and opened fire, said Lt. Rich Gammel of the LAPD’s 77th Division. One of the victims was hospitalized in critical condition and the other in stable condition. Police knew no motive for the shooting and had no suspects in custody.

Gammel was pleased that there were no weekend deaths in the 77th Division, one of the city’s most violent. “It’s very pleasant when no one dies,” he said.

Robert was also pleased that the South Bureau had only one killing. Often, there are several killings on a weekend, he said.

Statistics show that there were two deaths in the South Bureau on the last two Easter weekends, including one gang-related death in 1990 and one in 1991.

Officers, however, generally said the religious holiday had little to do with the small amount of gang violence.