Why Was a Good Kid Killed? : Standout teen-ager, witness to gang slaying, gets gunned down

That the Los Angeles area has too many youth gangs has been well documented. What is not as widely known, but must not be forgotten, is that the majority of young people in gang-infested neighborhoods are good kids who often come to our attention only when they fall victim to gangs.

Eduardo Samaniego, a courageous 14-year-old from Pomona, is the latest example. The son of a maintenance worker, Eduardo avoided gangs although they virtually engulfed his working-class neighborhood. Instead he lived the happier life of a typical adolescent, becoming a standout Little League baseball player who dreamed of a big league career.

But last November, the gang madness brushed up against Eduardo’s young life and he didn’t flinch. He was among 15 or so youngsters who saw a young man killed in a gang shooting. To his parents’ great pride, he was one of only three witnesses who agreed to testify against the murder suspects. Although Eduardo was shy, he spoke up firmly at the preliminary hearing. But he will not testify in court when the trial begins because, last Monday, someone fatally shot Eduardo in an alley near his home.

Pomona police have no suspects in custody, but they are investigating the possibility that Eduardo was killed to silence him and intimidate other witnesses.

If so, that must not be allowed to happen, for this would be much more than a typical gang killing. What is at stake is not turf but the very effectiveness of our system of justice.

Pomona does not have the resources to protect crime witnesses that bigger cities have. Los Angeles County and, if necessary, state authorities must help so that the case against the suspects Eduardo helped bring to trial is carried forward to completion. Police must also get any help they need to find Eduardo’s killers.

There may not be much that society can do to help some of the losers who belong to gangs, but at least we can show the good kids, the thousands of Eduardos out there, that if they resist the gangs they will be protected.