Advertisement

Two Men Die in Separate Shooting Cases in Santa Ana : Violence: Police say one victim was killed trying to protect his aunt from a spurned suitor. The second is slain at a teen girl’s coming-out party.

Share
TIMES STAFF WRITER

Two men were shot to death this weekend in Santa Ana, one at a party attended by more than 100 guests and the other following an argument with an angry suitor, police said Sunday.

In one slaying just after noon Sunday, a man arguing with another man was fatally shot with a rifle in front of a residence in the 200 block of Laurel Street, according to police.

Police said Anselmo Cecilio, 26, of Santa Ana was shot several times after arriving at a rented room where his aunt was being threatened by another man whose advances she had spurned. Cecilio attempted to disarm the angry suitor who, after threatening to “kill everyone,” fired several shots, according to police.

Advertisement

One of them hit Cecilio in an artery, causing him to bleed to death, said Santa Ana Police Sgt. John Follo.

The gunman--identified by police as Ricardo Rayo, 24, of Santa Ana--then carjacked a 1982 burgundy-colored Honda Civic with license plate 1EGE666, Follo said.

Late Sunday he was still at large, Follo said.

The first shooting happened Saturday night, as more than 100 guests celebrated a quinceanera, a traditional introduction of a young Latino girl into society, in the 500 block of South Shelton Street.

An assailant pulled out a handgun and opened fire on Ramiro Rodriguez Olaya, killing the Santa Ana man with one shot in the chest, Police Sgt. Brian Collins said.

Olaya, who was found at 9 p.m. sprawled on the south side of the back yard that was festooned with orange balloons, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to police.

“We were all eating and having a good time when all of sudden, we heard gunshots,” said Sylvia Quezada, who lives in the wooden-frame house where the incident occurred. “The next thing we knew, he was lying on the ground with blood all over.”

Advertisement

Quezada, 25, said she didn’t see who fired the shots. She also said she didn’t know the man who was killed, except that he had paid for the limousine in which the 15-year-old debutante arrived.

Santa Ana Police Officer Jack Whipple said by the time police arrived, few witnesses were left to be interviewed. And the people who were willing to talk about the incident “all said they saw nothing,” Whipple said.

Police had no leads on the case, and they are trying to contact other guests of the party for questioning. Both the gunman, who remained at large, and the victim had been invited guests, Collins said.

No motive has been established, he said.

The weekend’s two homicide victims in Santa Ana brought the month’s tally to 10, which is three more than last January, according to police.

Advertisement