Youth Shot, Killed in North Hollywood

A high school student was shot and killed while headed to a weekend birthday party when he unknowingly drove into a street gang’s territory in North Hollywood, Los Angeles police said.

Andrew Villanueva, 17, was “an innocent victim,” gunned down while on his way to a friend’s quinceanera , Lt. Ron LaRue said.

The North Hollywood teen-ager was riding in his Buick at 11:15 p.m. Saturday when he was shot by a passenger in a white Range Rover, LaRue said.

Soon after police arrived on the scene, the Range Rover was discovered parked a few blocks away and the suspected driver, Debra Ann Rakdahl, 30, arrested on suspicion of murder, he said.

Sunday afternoon, police arrested Ernest Martinez Luera, 22, at his Burbank home on suspicion of firing the fatal shots, LaRue said.

At the time of the shooting, one other teen-ager was in Villanueva’s car, and four others were following in a second car, all headed for the party, police said. As their cars neared the intersection of Whitnall and Oxnard Street, gang members began shouting at them and one shot rang out, missing the youths, LaRue said.

Villanueva and his friends hastily drove away, according to police, but then stopped to discuss the incident. The Range Rover then pulled alongside, and Luera allegedly shot five to seven times, hitting Villanueva in the upper body, Detective Mike Coffey said.

“He wanted to be an accountant,” said the dead youth’s father, Placido Villanueva. “He never used drugs, no drinking, no smoking, anything.”