Friends of Gang Victim Hold Vigil Near Site of Tragedy : Violence: Jesus Manjarrez, slain in his car by strangers early Sunday, is mourned. Four suspects are in custody.

Not far from the spot where Jesus Zamudio Manjarrez’s car rolled to a stop and he was slain by a stranger’s bullet, they gathered Monday with candles and psalms.

Friends came, asking why the 25-year-old man they knew as Jesse was shot to death early Sunday morning by four or five suspected gang members he did not know.

A woman whose boyfriend was riding home from work with Manjarrez when the bullets rang out attended the vigil, too.

“Jesse was a really nice guy, and I’m not just saying that because he died,” said 18-year-old Catalina Vidauri. “He just was. He didn’t do anything to deserve this.”

She said her boyfriend--whom police have directed to remain unnamed for his protection--was traumatized by the incident. “He won’t talk. He won’t eat. He just wants to stay in bed,” she said.

“He saw the guy get out of the back of the car and pull a gun and he just ducked. Jesse didn’t have time to and he got shot.”

*

Ministers from churches across Ventura County came to the intersection of High and Spring streets in downtown Moorpark to reach out to those in fear.

“What’s important is that they know they are not alone,” said Pastor Larry Tyler-Wayman of the North Oxnard Methodist Church, who helped organize the event with other members of the clergy.

“We should remember Jesse and all of those touched by violence in this and other communities,” he added.

The group remained on the street corner holding candles into the evening. The spoke to passersby or stood quietly as cars went by. A small bouquet of flowers was placed on the ground.

Police say Manjarrez and his passenger were stopped at the traffic light when a carful of Camarillo youths pulled up, asked him where he was from and shot him to death before speeding off.

Four suspects were arrested after a chase early Sunday morning. Sheriff’s deputies continued searching for a possible fifth suspect Monday.

Manjarrez’s roommates told authorities that they planned to go to the Mexican Consulate in Los Angeles today to arrange for his body to be sent back to his family in Mexico City.

Other friends of the victim, who were not able to attend the vigil, said they were still trying to make sense of the tragedy.

“Something like this, it could happen to anyone,” said Alberto Rios, who tutors Latino teens in a local outreach program. “I don’t think you can make sense of it. These guys were crazed. . . . They came down to Moorpark and they just shot the first soul they saw. What can you say about that?”

*

Deputies working on the investigation said local residents have been very helpful.

“Many people came forward and volunteered information leading to the identification and arrest of the four suspects,” said Ventura County Sheriff’s Sgt. Rod Mendoza. “We couldn’t have solved the case so quickly without all their help.”

The crime spree began at 12:30 a.m. when the youths, ages 17 to 20, attempted to steal food from a Taco Bell in Camarillo, then shot up a nearby home, robbed a man at a pay phone in Somis, and shot Manjarrez, deputies said.

Three of the suspects from Camarillo remain in jail in lieu of $250,000 bail each. The trio--Mike Castro, 20; Cesar Aldana, 18, and Arturo Contreras, 18--are scheduled to be arraigned today in Ventura County Superior Court.

A fourth suspect, whose case is being reviewed by a Superior Court judge, remained in juvenile hall Monday, deputies said.

In a related incident, Deputy Darren Smith, who crashed his patrol car while responding to the shooting and had to be extricated from the car, was listed in fair condition Monday at St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard.

Deputy Chris Lowes, who broke his arm in the accident, was treated at St. John’s Pleasant Valley Hospital in Camarillo and released.