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A Plague Persists

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

Since the coldblooded murder of 3-year-old Stephanie Kuhen seven months ago in Cypress Park, much has been said and much has been promised, but brutal gang warfare continues in the one-square-mile neighborhood.

In the first four months of this year, five people have been killed in gang-related homicides, heightening fears that street gangs, not the law-abiding residents, rule this community of 13,000 people.

A police substation, launched in January with great fanfare after Stephanie’s death, is temporarily closed because the officer assigned there injured his leg. No replacement has been found.

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Now, there is a new casualty: the community’s annual Cinco de Mayo parade and celebration. The festivities, originally planned for Saturday, have been canceled, partly because of fears that gangs would disrupt them.

“This is sad, real sad, when a community can’t even celebrate a day like Cinco de Mayo,” said Alva Ruiz, a longtime resident, referring to the Mexican holiday that is a source of cultural pride for the neighborhood’s largely Latino population.

“Our community is afraid to walk the streets,” said Juventino Gomez, president of the sponsoring Cypress Park/Elysian Valley/Glassell Park Chamber of Commerce, in explaining the decision to call off the third annual parade. The violence made it more difficult to find volunteers to help stage the event, he added.

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The cancellation, like other recent setbacks, sends out a message that depresses many residents of the blue-collar neighborhood, which lies less than two miles northeast of Dodger Stadium.

“What it says about Cypress Park is that it isn’t safe,” said Art Pulido, a neighborhood resident and chamber vice president. “[The cancellation] says kids aren’t safe in our own community. We need help out here.”

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Cypress Park found itself in the unforgiving glare of national publicity after the Sept. 17 slaying of Stephanie Kuhen. She was riding in a car that ended up in a dead-end alley on Isabel Street in the middle of the night. She was killed and her 2-year-old brother was wounded when the car was raked by gunfire from gang members. Three men were arrested in the case.

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Her death outraged Angelenos and many others across the nation, including President Clinton, who condemned the street toughs who fired on the car. Cypress Park residents were just as angry over the killing, but they went ballistic over the torrents of bad publicity the community received.

Federal, state and local officials rushed to Isabel Street and promised to help fight the gangs. Street lights were installed on Isabel. A Little League program was begun to provide recreational alternatives to gangs. Eight more anti-gang officers have been assigned to the LAPD’s Northeast Division, which patrols Cypress Park and other area communities such as Highland Park, Eagle Rock, Mt. Washington, Glassell Park and Atwater Village.

In addition, the city has received a $1-million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development--a direct result of Secretary Henry Cisneros’ visit to Cypress Park after Stephanie’s murder--for more anti-gang officers for the Northeast area. These new officers are just arriving and it’s too early to assess their impact on the continuing gang violence.

But not everything promised in the flurry of activity as a result of the little girl’s death has worked out.

For example, the police substation on Cypress Avenue--opened with cameras and public officials in attendance--has been closed in recent weeks because of the leg injury suffered by Ray Rangel, the police officer who was supposed to staff the facility.

City Councilman Mike Hernandez, who represents Cypress Park, has promised that members of his own staff will be at the substation in Rangel’s absence to help fill the void, explaining that the substation was never intended to be open on a daily basis even if Rangel had remained healthy.

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Of the five Cypress Park homicides since January, three stem from a continuing turf war between two rival gangs, police detectives said.

That struggle for street supremacy escalated in January with the shooting death of Steve Ramirez, 39, identified by police as a gang member.

It got nastier with the murder of 17-year-old Jason “Spooky” Reyes, also a suspected gang member. He was shot 21 times, three of them in the head, in late March. “That murder was a clear sign to one gang to stay out of Cypress Park,” said one source knowledgeable about gang activity.

And on April 20, Reyes’ 15-year-old brother, Sterling, was shot in the jaw in another gang attack on Isabel Street--about a mile away from the Kuhen shooting site. That attack claimed the life of 33-year-old Jeff Campa, also identified as a suspected gang member, who died from a single shotgun blast to the chest. Sterling Reyes is recovering from his wound.

Another suspected gang member, David Valenzuela, 22, was killed in a February incident in which the motive remains unclear.

The fifth slaying victim, Eduardo Mejia, 17, was slain in early March in a dispute over a debt that was unrelated to the turf war, police said.

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On Tuesday, police said, three people, described by officers as hard-core gang members, were charged in connection with Ramirez’s death. Lt. Raul Vega, the head of detectives at the Northeast station, said John Martinez, 25, Michelle Concepcion, 27, and James Flores, 19, all of Los Angeles, each face one count of murder in connection with the January slaying.

Martinez was arrested Friday and the other two were already in custody in unrelated cases.

Vega said the trio may be involved in the other slayings, but added that detectives were continuing to aggressively pursue leads in those homicides.

In Cypress Park--like some other Los Angeles communities--gangs are a way of life. During this same period last year, for example, three homicides were reported there, two of them gang-related.

In March of last year, six people were wounded at a local park, outraging many residents who railed against the area’s street gangs long before the fatal attack on Stephanie Kuhen.

When approached about the continuing violence, most Cypress Park residents are angry.

“After what happened to that little girl, it made Cypress Park look bad,” said Juana Garcia, a retired garment worker. “A lot of good people live here, but having good people isn’t enough. We need the police here.”

Some in the community say--none more vocally than Pulido--that Hernandez could do more to solve their neighborhood’s woes. “He’s out of touch with us,” said Pulido, who owns a messenger service.

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For his part, Hernandez rejects the criticism, pointing to the beefed-up police presence in Cypress Park and other area activities, such as Cinco de Mayo festivities at various elementary schools, that have flourished with help from his office.

“We have a major problem in that area, and that’s why we have brought in major resources [to fight it],” Hernandez said. “I’m working on a long-term plan to improve the infrastructure in that community.”

Among the improvements he cited are the Cypress Park police substation, plans to build a new fire station and money to revamp the old fire station into a community center.

Hernandez said Cypress Park is not the only neighborhood in his 1st District that is plagued with gang violence. “I’ve also got a problem [with gangs] in Lincoln Heights. In Highland Park. In Pico-Union. I got involved in the first place because I was hearing gunshots in my neighborhood.”

As the area’s councilman, Hernandez was a principal sponsor, along with the local chamber, of the Cinco de Mayo parade. It was a modest affair, attracting 60 to 80 parade units, that cost less than $5,000 to stage. City costs for street closures, traffic control and police protection were waived.

Although it became a viable event only in recent years, community officials say many area youngsters were looking forward to it this year. “You should have seen the faces of the kids at last year’s parade,” said Gomez, the chamber president. “[This year’s cancellation] tears me apart.”

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Police Lt. Vega is determined to fight the gang violence in Cypress Park. He hates it because he grew up in the neighborhood.

Despite the cancellation of the parade, he thinks the folks in Cypress Park must not get discouraged.

“What’s important is the perception,” the 28-year LAPD veteran said the other day. “With the extra officers we’re putting in the field, people are going to see a difference. But we’re not going to be successful until the perception that the community is safe is back. We can do 10,000 things, but the people have to feel safe.

“It saddens me that they had to cancel [the parade] because they don’t feel safe,” he said.

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