Drive-By Victim, 8, Taken Off Life Support; Family Can’t Afford Burial

Sunny Elijah Peralez, the 8-year-old boy who was shot in the head as he stood inside a South-Central residence, has died, and his mother said Monday that she cannot afford a funeral.

The victim of what police called a gang-related drive-by shooting had been kept on life support until late Sunday at County-USC Medical Center, a hospital spokeswoman said. His organs were harvested to be donated to others.

The boy’s mother, Maria Avina, who lives with her three children in a Long Beach housing project, said she did not know how she was going to pay for the funeral.

As a result, a fund has been set up to raise money for a burial. Donations can be sent to: Washington Mutual Bank, Box 30810, Los Angeles, CA 90030-0810.

Sunny had accompanied his mother Friday from their north Long Beach home to attend a cousin’s baby shower at a triplex in the 2100 block of Adair Street.

As family members prepared for bed sometime after 10 p.m., Elijah checked the front door to make certain it was locked.

At that moment, a group of young men, some of whom were gang members, were standing outside, neighbors said.

A car cruised by slowly and someone in it fired a gun, according to an eyewitness, and a bullet struck Elijah in the head.

Sunny would have entered the fourth grade at Birney Elementary School next month.