‘She Was Very Involved With Her Family’

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: She wanted to spend time with her younger siblings, take them on an outing or attend one of their sporting meets.

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

Police sources said Tuesday that despite an aggressive investigation and witness statements, authorities were struggling to identify the man who on Sunday night shot and killed Gonzalez, the 20-year-old granddaughter of Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard C. Parks.

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

Gonzalez, a Saddleback College freshman, moved to Mission Viejo three years ago to live with her father, stepmother and two siblings, now ages 12 and 6. Her parents divorced 18 years ago and remarried, and Gonzalez was the eldest child in both families. She has two younger siblings on her mother’s side, a 1- and a 4-year-old.

Joe Gonzalez, the young woman’s father, said he had warned his daughter about crime in Los Angeles.

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

Tuesday, detectives from the Robbery Homicide Division combed the neighborhood near La Brea Avenue and Jefferson Boulevard, where Gonzalez was shot to death as she and a friend drove away from a Popeye’s Chicken & Biscuits 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.

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.

‘The Last Time I Saw Her’

Eager to push along a case that has angered and dismayed city officials, Los Angeles 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.”

Last Saturday, Gonzalez declined to go on a Memorial Day camping trip with her Mission Viejo family, choosing instead to visit her mother, Felicia Parks, and friends in Los Angeles.

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

Neighbors said father and daughter were especially close. The two could often be seen in front of their home washing her car and having long conversations.

“There was always a lot of laughter between them,” said Rebecca Rodriguez, who lives across the street. “She was always beautifully dressed, and she was so warm in the inside. . . . It’s just too nice a 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 away to others. She volunteered at the family’s church, teaching Sunday school to second- and third-graders at Coast Hills Community Church in Aliso Viejo. She was also part of a group that took scrap construction materials from Orange County down to Mexico to help build housing for poor families.

“It has been devastating,” said Eric Nachtrieb, executive director of the church, where memorial services for Gonzalez will be held Friday. “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,” he said.

Gonzalez had started 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.

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

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

Her father said that he did not know the young man who was with his daughter Sunday night, but that she had a lot of friends in Los Angeles.

He said his 12-year-old daughter, Lindsey, took the news especially hard. The two were very close, and Gonzalez, who had studied cosmetology, would often delight her half-sister and her friends by doing their hair and nails.

“She was devastated,” Joe Gonzalez said.

He had not yet told 6-year-old Niko about his sister’s death. “He’s a very inquisitive boy. I’m sure he will have a million questions,” the father said.

“She was more like a friend to me,” he added. “I wish everyone could have a child like her.”

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Times staff writer Jeff Gottlieb contributed to this report.