Donations Sought for Girl’s Funeral

Police Officer Jeff Shelton meets a lot of children. As part of his beat, Shelton is assigned to youth services.

When he heard that a third-grader he had seen at Haycox Elementary School died unexpectedly over the weekend, he decided to begin a fund-raising campaign to provide the 9-year-old with a proper burial.

Alicia Contreras wasn’t feeling well last weekend and her relatives planned to take her to the doctor Monday. But Alicia went to bed Sunday and never woke up.

Paramedics rushed the girl to St. John’s Regional Medical Center where she was pronounced dead of natural causes.

Alicia’s father died years ago; her mother lives in Mexico and does not yet know of her death. The cousins she lived with do not have insurance nor financial means to bury the youngster.

“She was quiet but always seemed to have a smile on her face,” Shelton recalled. “She seemed to be a happy little girl.”

Shelton is working with Garcia Mortuary in Oxnard to coordinate the funeral arrangements, which will cost $3,000. The officer did a similar deed earlier this year when 11-year-old asthma sufferer Kenny Wells died. Like Alicia, Kenny’s family could not afford the cost of a funeral.

Services for Alicia, who will be buried at Ivy Lawn Cemetery, are scheduled for Tuesday. Shelton said he hopes that is enough time to locate Alicia’s mother.

Donations to the Alicia Contreras’ burial fund are being accepted at the Oxnard Police Department, 251 South C St.; Garcia Mortuary, 629 South A St., and the Oxnard Peace Officers Assn. Christmas Tree lot, located under the marquee at the Centerpoint Mall.