Boy Fatally Beaten; Tension Rises

A 17-year-old Oxnard youth was beaten to death and another boy injured in a fight with three men Thursday evening, and police said Friday that the incident could be gang-related.

In the aftermath of the beatings of the two victims, both Latino, word spread through the racially mixed south Oxnard neighborhood that the three attackers were black. But police described the assailants as either black or Latino.

The violence raised tensions in the community that spilled over into a candlelight vigil Friday for the dead teen, Jaime “Jinx” Morales. During the event, several of Morales’ friends kicked and chased a passing African American teenager.

At the ceremony, held on the sidewalk where he died, Morales’ older brother, Tony, berated an African American man who was there to pay his respects--forcing the minister leading the prayer service to stand between the two men to prevent a fight.

Concerned that the friction could escalate, Oxnard police patrolled the street until late in the evening.

Jaime Morales, a former gang member who was recently praised by a Ventura County judge for turning his life around, died Thursday evening after being severely beaten by three young men wielding baseball bats, family members said.

Morales was jumped about 7 p.m. in an alley near the intersection of N Street and South Hill Street. Another youth, 16-year-old David Mora, was injured in the deadly brawl, which police say may have been gang related.

Morales’ death stunned his large family, who said Morales was about to enter his senior year at Gateway Continuation High School in Oxnard and only a week ago talked of attending college.

*

On Thursday, Morales had just finished work as a janitor at a nearby elementary school and was going with Mora to get a bite to eat about 7 p.m. when they were attacked, said his father, Jesus Morales, 69.

“This was a good kid,” Morales’ father said. “Just yesterday, he was telling me he wanted to go to Oxnard College. He was working. He hasn’t been in trouble for over two years.”

A veteran of World War II, Jesus Morales said he was overwhelmed by the loss of his son.

“I haven’t cried since the war,” he said, his eyes filling with tears. “But at the hospital my legs just gave out. It is too much.”

Jaime Morales had recently received a letter from Judge Steven Perren, who formerly presided over the county’s juvenile court, congratulating him for his success at school and at a court-ordered youth program. Last December, he received a Youth of the Month award from the Bly Schwierking Optimist Boys’ Home and Ranch.

“He was doing well and I knew it and I wanted to congratulate him for it,” a shaken Perren said Friday.

*

Cesar Torres, who lives across the street from where Morales died, said he saw the boy being chased by three black men. An 11-year-old boy playing in the alley at the time also saw the beating, according to neighbors.

Morales fell to the ground in an alleyway and was repeatedly kicked, according to Torres. He got up and stumbled onto N Street and fell onto a curb behind a car, where the men continued to beat him and then fled, he said.

Residents rushed to Morales’ aid but he was beyond help, they said.

Alfonso Cota, a family friend, said witnesses told him that Morales’ attackers were wielding bats. Cota said he thought the attack was racially motivated.

Police said they have no evidence that bats were used and would not comment on whether race played a factor in the beatings.

Cota and several of Morales’ friends said there may be violent repercussions because of the killing.

“To tell you the truth, no I can’t say something won’t happen,” Cota said. “If they couldn’t control [the violence] why should we?”

*

At the memorial vigil, several youths gave similar veiled threats.

Mora was found by police a few hours after the incident several blocks away, said Sgt. Cliff Troy, a detective with the Oxnard Police Department.

“He was pretty badly beaten, but he didn’t want to go to the hospital,” Troy said. Mora also would not give police much information about the brawl.

Mora attended the Friday afternoon vigil but would not comment on the incident. His head was covered with large bruises and bloody cuts, and was swollen in several places.

By Friday night, the department had not made any arrests and didn’t have any suspects, Troy said.

Morales is the fifth person to be killed in gang-related violence in Oxnard since January. The most recent homicide was the May 20 shooting death of 14-year-old Ralph David Rico Jr., who was killed on the sidewalk in front of his aunt’s home.

*

“We thought maybe things were turning around,” said Larry Tyler-Wayman, a minister with the Oxnard United Methodist Church and a member of the Faith Connection, a community group that has been trying to combat gang violence in Ventura County.

Tyler-Wayman helped organize the vigil for Morales. The apparent racial overtones of the attack also concerned the minister.

“Let’s hope that people realize that this was the action of individuals and not one racial group,” Tyler-Wayman said. “We are all part of the same community.”

The minister was visibly shaken by the racial confrontation that occurred at the vigil.

“It felt like something really awful could have happened,” he said.

The neighborhood where Morales was killed has a mix of mostly Latino and African American families. Many of the longtime residents say that racial friction long ago lifted from the ethnically diverse neighborhood.

Albert Southall, an African American pastor who lives in the area, went to the vigil to express his grief at the death of another young man.

Wazirah Rasheed took a broom to the street where Morales died, preparing it for the memorial service. “I’m just sorry this boy died, it’s very sad,” she said.

Ray King, 37, said he and other blacks in the neighborhood have never felt racial friction in the community.

“There’s all kinds of people that live here,” said King, who has resided in the area for 19 years.

Friends of Jaime Morales scrawled the words “RIP Jinx” at the spot on N Street where he died and left gang markings all across the neighborhood.

Others placed flowers and religious candles at the scene. One note on a bouquet of flowers read, “We’ll miss you homie.”

*

A woman who had come to Morales’ side as he was dying on the street left a silver cross.

“His spirit is still here,” said the woman, who asked that her name not be used. “We’re all scared to talk, afraid somebody is going to come and kill us, but that could have been my son.”

Police are asking anyone with information to call Det. Mike Palmieri at 385-7688 or the Oxnard Crime Stoppers at 385-TALK. Those tips can be made anonymously.

Meanwhile, Morales’ family is trying to raise money to help pay for his burial. He is survived by his parents, Jesus and Mary Elena Morales, seven brothers and two sisters.

Times photographer Carlos Chavez contributed to this story.