Boy Dies After Shooting at Party; Police Hold 2

It began when someone broke a disc jockey’s lighting fixture during a weekend party. It ended with a 15-year-old boy dying in a local hospital and the disc jockey and another man in custody, authorities said.

The two men were scheduled to be arraigned today.

The boy, Hugo Meza of Oxnard, died Monday afternoon. He underwent surgery at St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard early Sunday morning.

Authorities said Meza was among 75 people attending a going-away party for a father and son in the early hours of Sunday morning, in the 300 block of Peoples Avenue in Camarillo.

Neighbors said the party, on a cul-de-sac near Lewis Road and the Ventura Freeway, was raucous and had been going on since Saturday afternoon.

Witnesses told authorities that alcohol was flowing freely and the music was loud. A fistfight broke out about 1:40 a.m., said Capt. Bill Montijo of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department.

Montijo added: “What sparked the fight was someone knocked over a strobe light or some other kind of light” belonging to the deejay, David Munoz, 34, of Oxnard.

Several people tried to break up the fight and witnesses reported hearing shots from one or two handguns. Meza was shot in the head and another man, whose name has not been released, was shot in the leg.

The second man fled the area, going to St. John’s Regional Medical Center, where he was treated and released. By the time deputies arrived at the scene, Meza had been taken to the hospital by friends.

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Witnesses implicated Munoz and his assistant, Luis Ruiz, 30, of Oxnard, in the shooting. The men were arrested as they were driving away from the party, Montijo said.

One handgun was found at the scene, but authorities would not disclose its caliber.

“And one weapon is still out there,” Montijo said.

Both men were booked into Ventura County Jail, authorities said.

Deputies found the man who was shot in the leg, but he did not cooperate with investigators, Montijo said.

Investigators are asking that anyone with information on the shooting call the Sheriff’s Department’s Major Crimes Bureau at 654-2340, during regular business hours.