Slaying Raises Concern on Pay-to-Enter Parties : Violence: Lancaster death is the third since 1990 at such a gathering. The mix of drugs, alcohol, weapons and strangers can lead to confrontations.

The organizers of a pay-to-enter house party in Lancaster were determined to make it safe. Security guards frisked everyone who entered, and organizers said pit bulls were stationed in the side yards to keep people from sneaking in without permission.

But despite these precautions, 17-year-old Rayshaun Love did not leave the Saturday night party alive. When a fight erupted and gunshots rang out, Love was fatally wounded, shot while shielding two teen-age girls from harm.

Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies reported Monday night that they arrested Love’s half-brother, Eric Gunn, 21, as the suspected gunman. They were still seeking a second suspect.

Love’s death threw fresh attention on the popularity of pay-to-enter parties--and the dangers they pose. Since 1990, two other deaths and numerous injuries have occurred in the Antelope Valley alone at such get-togethers, where minimal supervision and the mix of alcohol, drugs and weapons can easily lead to a deadly confrontation.

While Love’s family was seeking donations Monday to help with the youth’s funeral costs, some community leaders sought to warn other parents and teen-agers about the hazards of these parties.

“Here’s another incident in a short period of time where somebody’s dead or injured because of one of these pay-to-enter parties,” said Bill Pricer, who heads the United Community Action Network, an anti-gang group in Palmdale. “They just simply get out of hand. No matter how many controls they think they have, this gun obviously got past the guards at the door.”

Pricer, a retired sheriff’s deputy who is also president of the Antelope Valley Union High School District board, launched his group’s 24-hour hot line after Christopher Stanford, a popular high school soccer player, was fatally shot during a 1990 pay-to-enter party in Lancaster.

A year later, 22-year-old Merle Grinder of Lancaster was shot to death when he tried to aid a friend who was being beaten up at such a party.

Authorities say such gatherings usually operate outside the law, either with or without a parent’s knowledge.

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Pay-to-enter parties are social gatherings, usually for teen-agers and young adults, at which the organizers charge a fee, typically $3 to $10 a person, to attend. They may be held in part of a private home, such as a garage, or a rented warehouse or hall. A disc jockey commonly plays music for dancing, and alcoholic beverages, from beer to mixed drinks, are usually served.

Authorities say young people often organize such parties when their parents are away. Commonly, organizers spread word about the parties by handing out flyers at schools and other places where young people gather.

“Some of them get out of control, some of them we never even hear about,” said Sheriff’s Sgt. Greg Collins, who oversees gang investigations in the Antelope Valley.

Authorities say it is illegal to charge admission to a party without a city or county business license and a permit from state beverage regulators, if alcohol is served. Collins said that deputies commonly find evidence of illegal drug sales at such parties.

The homicide investigators in the latest case will decide whether to pursue charges against the people who organized the party, including contributing to the delinquency of a minor and failing to obtain a business license. The investigators could not be reached for comment Monday.

But in the wake of Love’s death, Pricer said he plans to press city leaders in Lancaster and Palmdale to adopt local laws that will make it easier to crack down on pay-to-enter parties.

“I think we need a specific ordinance relating to these parties,” Pricer said. “Now, I think we have the ammunition to support it.”

Beverley Louw, principal at Desert Winds High School, which Love attended, said her staff tries to stop the distribution of party tickets and flyers on campus, with mixed success.

“If a kid is selling tickets to a party while on campus, they get a warning the first time and then they are suspended,” she said. “We catch two or three kids a week doing this on campus.”

She said most party flyers are neatly fashioned on computers, and many are printed in color.

Often they list only a phone number so organizers can try to screen party-goers and keep the location a secret from authorities. The people who organize such parties and sell the tickets can often reap large profits, Louw said.

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Sergio (Alex) Leon, a 17-year-old Desert Winds student, said he helps organize pay-to-enter parties called “undergrounds” that feature music, dancing and light shows--but no alcohol. He enlists an adult to rent a warehouse, then uses security guards to keep bottles, weapons and graffiti tools outside. Admission is usually $5.

“We’re just trying to give the teen-agers something to do,” he said. “The meaning of my parties is just peace and unity for all.”

His flyers advise party-goers to call a number answered by a voice-mail machine. The message tells people to visit a checkpoint on the day of the event, where they will learn where the party is located.

Leon said this tactic helps him to keep trouble-makers and authorities away. When they can afford it, his group rents metal detection wands to help keep weapons out.

Despite such precautions, trouble sometimes occurs.

Leon said party-goers sometimes drink alcohol before coming to the party. And at one recent event, taggers spray-painted the outside of the warehouse his group had rented. “Half of our damage deposit went down the drain,” Leon said.

A 25-year-old Lancaster man who said he needed money to support his wife and two children provided his house for the pay-to-enter party at which Love died.

“It was the first and last time I’ve been involved,” said the man, who asked that his name be withheld but who could possibly face charges in the incident for serving alcohol and holding the party without proper licenses and permits.

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He said eight people, many of them former football players, served as security guards, checking for weapons as people entered.

“There were a couple of people who came through,” he said. “They had weapons. We turned them away and told them to take them away or put them in their cars. We weren’t allowing weapons in. Nobody protested being searched. Nobody had a problem.”

Mixed drinks were sold in the back yard, but the organizers required proof that the buyer was at least 21, he said.

The party remained peaceful until about 1 a.m., when a fight erupted in the yard, followed by three gunshots, the man said. He said he called 911, while his wife and others tended to the wounded.

Among those hit was Love, a close friend of the man’s younger brother. “He was lying in my brother’s arms,” the man recalled. “My brother was kneeling down, caressing his head. I saw a puddle of blood on the ground.”

Police said Love used his body to protect two girls, one 14 and the other 17, when he was shot. Investigators said the shooting broke out after Gunn became upset because someone spilled beer on his shoes.

Two other men, 18 and 19, were wounded in the shooting. Both were recovering at the Antelope Valley Hospital and Medical Center.

The man who provided the house for this party said he is filled with remorse, wondering what more he could have done to avert the tragedy.

“I talked to my neighbors, I tried to make it as legal as I possibly could,” he said. “When I was younger, we had these parties but they didn’t have this kind of outcome.”