Gang Gunfire Ravages Family

His nickname was Smiles, known for his cheerful personality and ever-present grin. But Thursday night, 17-year-old Jose Juan Arias’ life was cut short when gang members shot him to death in what police think was a case of mistaken identity.

The grief was almost too much for his parents, Jesus and Teresa Arias, whose son Salvador had also died at 17 in a gang shooting, in February 1990.

“I can’t understand this,” said Teresa Arias, unable to control her tears. “I have already lost one son. We have wanted to move out of Santa Ana for a long time but we just couldn’t find the money.”

Jose Arias and two friends had met around 9 p.m. at the park next to Heritage Elementary School when three men drove up in a white car, police said.

They demanded to know what neighborhood Arias and his friends “claimed.”

Arias and his friend, Kevin Rodriguez, explained that they did not belong to any particular neighborhood or gang. Then two of the men jumped out of the car and pumped several shots into Arias’ head and chest.

Rodriguez said the shooters were clear who they wanted dead, aiming directly at Arias. One even took the time to tell Rodriguez to get down before the gunfire erupted. Rodriguez stayed down, listening to the clicking sound of the shooter loading and reloading the shotgun before they sped off, Rodriguez said.

“I thought he was still alive, so I started talking to him,” Rodriguez said. “But then I saw all the blood.”

Police said Arias was not a gang member.

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“Possibly they thought he was a rival gang member,” said Santa Ana Police Sgt. Dan Carr. “Sometimes they shoot them if they respond and other times if they don’t respond.”

Police say Arias’ death is a terrifying example of being in the wrong place at the wrong time in a deadly game between gangs that can claim anyone’s child for no reason.

The neighborhood, near West Camile Street and South Andres Place, is not a high-crime area, police say.

Still, it is not immune from the gang problem that continues to plague Santa Ana. Thursday night’s slaying was an eerie reminder of the shooting death of Arias’ brother seven years ago.

Salvador Arias was killed when gang members drove up to his house on 5th Street and shot him in the back of the head while he was standing outside with friends.

A gang member was found guilty of second-degree murder.

Like his brother, authorities said, Salvador Arias was not in a gang.

Family and friends described the younger Arias as a shy, soft-spoken teen who had a passion for science, reading, hiking in Silverado Canyon, the Beatles and wrestling. “He was the exact opposite of what a gangster would be,” Rodriguez said.

Though lately he had let his grades slip from A’s to Bs and Cs at Los Amigos High in Fountain Valley, he had hoped to go to Orange Coast College in a year, his father said.

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A skinny 5 foot 8, 119 pounds, Arias was on the junior varsity wrestling team, where he was named most inspirational his freshman year.

His coach Ben Barajas gave him his nickname. “Whether he was winning or losing he always had that big smile,” Barajas said. “It just doesn’t seem real. He wasn’t a troublemaker.”

Many girls wanted to go out with him, his friends said, but Arias was too busy learning the latest jujitsu moves with his buddies to bother with dating.

“He had never kissed a girl,” said his wrestling buddy Tony Montana. “A lot of chicks liked him, but he was just too shy.”

The day of his death, Arias had been glued to the television, watching coverage of the Pathfinder spacecraft making its way to Mars.

His mother had tried to persuade him to get to bed early, so he would be ready to leave early Friday morning for a weekend in Tijuana.

Instead, Teresa Arias received the call all parents fear--a police officer informing her that her youngest son was dead.

At the schoolyard Friday, in the spot where Arias died, his friends had left candles, flowers and handwritten notes beneath the bullet-riddled walls. “Until we meet again,” said one. “You’ll always be in our hearts,” said another.

“Bad things happen to good people all of the time,” said Ruben Eudave. “We will always love him, but there is nothing we can do.”