San Pedro Girl, 12, Killed by Stray Bullet in Drive-By Shooting

A 12-year-old girl died Thursday night after a stray bullet apparently intended for gang members hit her in the head as she sat in a car outside her San Pedro home, authorities said.

A life support machine at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center had fed oxygen into the lungs of Lydia Jaques, but doctors said it was not enough to save her.

The girl was shot Wednesday night in Old Town, an aging, working-class section of the port community.

The shooting called into question the strength of a 3-year-old gang truce that police and youth counselors say has kept San Pedro one of the quieter areas in Los Angeles.

Los Angeles Police Department homicide detectives were dispatched to investigate the crime because of the girl’s grave condition.

Minutes before the 9:05 p.m. shooting, Det. Carlos Velasquez said, Lydia was riding in the back seat of a white Toyota on her way home from a party. Her 14-year-old brother was in the car, and a 22-year-old male neighbor was driving. Their names were not released.

The trio double-parked in front of the Jaques home in the 200 block of 13th Street, Velasquez said, and the neighbor got out to talk to three young men standing on the sidewalk.

About the same time, a white full-sized car carrying at least three young men pulled alongside the Toyota and an occupant opened fire on the sidewalk gathering with a handgun.

The intended targets scattered and none were wounded, but one of five shots fired struck the girl in the head as she sat in the car.

Investigators said the three men on the sidewalk are believed to be members of an upstart gang that moved into San Pedro from Lynwood a few years ago.

The men in the assailant’s car are thought to be members of an older, more established gang that initially clashed with the newer clique but later agreed to end hostilities with a gang truce.

Lingering differences between the groups have touched off scuffles at parties over the past several months, but gang counselor James Davis said Wednesday night’s shooting marked the first time anyone had been seriously injured recently.

Gang-related crime in San Pedro has dropped steadily since the gang truce took effect, LAPD gang detective Chuck Hawley said. Figures indicate that gang-related crime plunged 20% in 1995 from the year before.

The attack on the girl has Hawley concerned that the trend could take a sharp turn in the other direction.

“I hope it doesn’t,” Hawley said. “I wish I had a crystal ball. Unfortunately, time will tell us what the result of last night’s action will be. If hotheads prevail, who knows what might happen?”