3 Youths Sought in Student’s Death

Police were still seeking suspects in the fatal attack on Dondre Baker, a 19-year-old college student, 48 hours after he was shot outside his Oxnard home.

Shot in the head, Baker was taken off a ventilator Sunday afternoon and was pronounced dead at 5:20 p.m., according to a nursing supervisor at St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard.

Police mistakenly had reported him dead on Saturday night, information that formed the basis for a Times report Sunday. At the time, he was in critical condition in the hospital’s intensive-care unit.

Baker was shot about 5:30 p.m. Friday as he was installing a stereo in his girlfriend’s car, which was parked outside his family’s home in the 400 block of Helena Way.

Police were seeking three youths with shaved heads who were described as 15 to 18 years old. The three walked up to Baker and exchanged words with him before a gun was fired, according to an account from a neighbor who said he witnessed the incident.

A basketball player recently hired for a sales job at a shoe store in Camarillo, Baker had completed a semester at Oxnard College. Previously, he had attended Hueneme High School in Oxnard.

“He was funny, he was smart, he was unique,” said his 14-year-old sister, Cherine.