‘Progress’ but No Break in Killing of Parks Relative

Despite an aggressive investigation and statements from a number of witnesses, police sources said Tuesday that authorities were struggling to identify the man who on Sunday night shot and killed Lori Gonzalez, the 20-year-old granddaughter of Police Chief Bernard C. Parks.

According to police, a number of possible witnesses have been questioned, including employees of the restaurant where the shooting occurred and those of a nearby gas station. Still, officials cautioned against expecting an imminent arrest.

“There’s nothing going to break right away,” one police official said. “We’re making progress.”

Tuesday, detectives from the LAPD’s Robbery-Homicide Division combed the neighborhood near the intersection of La Brea Avenue and Jefferson Boulevard, where Gonzalez was shot to death as she and a friend drove away from a Popeyes chicken restaurant. Gonzalez was behind the wheel at the time of the shooting, and police believe her passenger was the killer’s likely target.

Police would not release the passenger’s name.

Cmdr. David Kalish, the department’s official spokesman, would not comment on the status of the investigation.

According to police, the assailant approached the car as it prepared to leave the parking lot and fired into the passenger side. Gonzalez’s friend ducked, and she was hit.

Eager to push along a case that has angered and dismayed city officials, City Councilman Nate Holden submitted a motion proposing a $25,000 reward for information leading to the killer’s apprehension. Holden quickly withdrew that proposal, however, at the urging of the Police Department.

“They thought a reward at this time would interfere with this investigation,” the councilman said. “I got the impression they were on to something.”

Holden’s colleagues on the Los Angeles City Council lamented the young woman’s murder and adjourned their Tuesday session in her memory.

“People keep saying ‘wrong place, wrong time,’ ” said Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas. “It seems pretty obvious--it’s the wrong person.”

Council President John Ferraro said: “It’s unbelievable what’s happening in our city nowadays.”

The council’s anger and grief were shared by Gonzalez’s many friends and colleagues. A student at Saddleback College for the last two years, she already had made an impression in that community.

One thing Lori Gonzalez’s co-workers remember about her is how she often asked if she could trade hours with them at the Aliso Viejo Sav-on.

Her reason was always the same: so she could spend some time with her younger siblings, take them on some outing or attend one of their sporting meets.

“She was very involved with her family,” said co-worker Lori Haid. “She’d say, ‘Can I please trade with somebody? It’s the playoffs.”

Gonzalez, 20, moved to Mission Viejo to live with her father, Joe Gonzalez, her stepmother and two half-siblings. He parents divorced 18 years ago and Gonzalez was the eldest child in both families. She has two younger half-siblings, 1 and 4, on her mother’s side; her father’s family includes a 12-year-old sister and a 6-year-old brother. Her younger sister, Lindsey, 12, took the news very hard, the father said.

The parents have not yet told Niko, 6.

“He’s a very inquisitive boy, I’m sure he will have a million questions,” said Joe Gonzalez.

Lori Gonzalez had declined to accompany her father and stepfamily on a Memorial Day weekend camping trip, choosing instead to visit her mother and friends in Los Angeles.

“That was the last time I saw her,” said Joe Gonzalez, 45.

Neighbors said father and daughter seemed especially close. The two could often be seen in front of their Mission Viejo home washing her car and having long conversations. “There was a always a lot of laughter between them,” said Rebecca Rodriguez, who lives across the street. “It’s just too nice of people to have this happen to.”

When she wasn’t working one of her two jobs, or completing schoolwork for her college classes, or playing with her siblings, Gonzalez gave her time to others. She volunteered at the family church, teaching 15 second- and third-graders at Coast Hills Community Church in Aliso Viejo.

Her death “has been devastating,” said Eric Nachtrieb, executive director of the church. “It has taken us all aback. Lori was just enthusiastic and a wonderful girl. The kids loved her and they really responded to her. This is a tremendous tragedy.”

She also was part of a group that took scrap construction materials from Orange County to Mexico to help build housing for poor families.

Gonzalez had started at Saddleback College last summer. She didn’t have a major, but wrote that her goal was to transfer to a four-year school, said Susan Lemkin, the college spokeswoman. She had taken classes in English, Spanish, math and physical education.

Saddleback is in summer session, with few people around, and not many had heard that Gonzalez had been killed.

Kristine Debarge, who works in Saddleback’s tutoring program, remembered Gonzalez’s coming in for help with her math. “She was a quiet little thing,” she said.

Gonzalez was petite, about 5 feet 2, and often wore her hair in braids, adding to an especially youthful appearance.

Joe Gonzalez said Tuesday that he worried about his daughter’s going to Los Angeles and about the dangers in some areas in the city but that he trusted her judgment.

“She was a very intelligent young lady,” said Joe Gonzalez, who grew up only a few blocks from where his daughter was murdered. “We trusted her. You put your faith in God and hope your child will be safe.

“I wish everyone could have a child like her.”

Times staff writers Daniel Yi and Jeff Gottlieb contributed to this story.