Marchers Demand End to Teen-Age Violence

Carrying signs that read “Stop the violence,” more than 225 people from throughout Orange County marched in Santa Ana on Monday night to call for an end to violence by teen-agers.

The march, sponsored by the Action Coalition Against Teen Terrorism, was prompted by a drive-by shooting in which a 2-year-old was killed while in his father’s arms. Police have no suspect.

Organizers said that the rally was intended as a wake-up call to parents and residents countywide that no place is immune to violence.

“Any parent with children needs to wake up,” coalition member Eve Johnson said. “There is no place that is a safe haven. It’s not even safe for our kids to go to school or people just to walk down the street.”

Johnson, 41, of Mission Viejo, said she joined the group after a friend’s son was shot several times as he walked home in Lake Forest from El Toro High School last Nov. 4.

“I just hope (the march) brings more attention to what’s going on. Every day, in the paper or on TV, someone’s being shot. Teen-agers are being caught with guns. There needs to be stricter laws. If they’re minors and committing adult crimes, they need to be treated as an adult,” she said.

“It’s terrorism,” Johnson said. “It’s not just teen delinquency when they’re shooting people.”

The march began shortly after 5 p.m. at the Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center and proceeded westward along Santa Ana Boulevard. The procession ended at the intersection of 6th and Garfield streets, where 2-year-old Stevie Hernandez was fatally shot as his father held him.

At the site, Stevie’s parents, Alfonzo and Eva, wept as they placed a bouquet of red carnations on the sidewalk. Several people in the crowd also wiped away tears during a moment of silence in memory of the boy.

Sarina Quinonez, 27, of Westminster said the march was important to show that residents must get involved if they want to stem the violence in their cities.

“The community can’t rely on the police to do everything,” she said. During the march, Quinonez carried a sign that bore a photo of her late husband, who was an innocent victim of a fatal gang shooting in 1991.

Waving a hand toward the crowd around her, she said: “There are a lot of broken hearts here that don’t need to be broken. I hope that this will open a lot of people’s eyes.”