PHOTO ESSAY / THE LIFE AND DEATH OF A GANG MEMBER : FATAL BRAVADO

Javier Ortega Martinez, alias “Boomer,” was slain in a driveby shooting March 17. He was 18 years old. Typically, the media portray deaths like Boomer’s as “senseless” murders committed by boys over neighborhood turf they do not--and never will--actually control. No room is left for alternative meanings. This makes it easier for police and prosecutors to criminalize a generation.

Of course, Boomer died an outlaw. But the images of his short life on these two pages reflect values--family, respect, loyalty, sacrifice--that are universal. But when they are practiced in service to anti-social ends, when they are nurtured in an atmosphere of discrimination and persecution, when they substitute for a sense of self-worth, these values can became deadly.

Boomer’s needs--respect, a sense of belonging, protection--were not special. But in the absence of strong ties to his real family, he adopted teen-age parents--the Hang Out Boys--who served as his guides to adulthood. His family of children failed him.