Woman Playing With Gun Kills Man on Halloween

A freak accident is how neighbors are describing the Halloween shooting death of 19-year-old Jeff Chesingto.

After a night of trick-or-treating with his 1-year-old son, Chesingto invited friends to his apartment in the 8000 block of Rosemead Boulevard.

One of the guests, Jennifer Paragas, 18, ended up shooting Chesingto to death with a 9-millimeter handgun she believed to be empty, said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Sgt. Richard Longshore.

Paragas was arrested early Wednesday morning and charged with manslaughter, Longshore said. She is being held in lieu of $60,000 bail.

Longshore said Paragas was playing with a gun that he believes was Chesingto’s. Paragas, a neighbor of Chesingto, told police she removed the magazine from the gun.

Believing the handgun was unloaded, she pulled the trigger and fired it at Chesingto at about 10:30 p.m., Longshore said.

“I remember hearing a loud bang,” said John Luna, who lives a few doors down from Chesingto. “About 15 minutes later I saw police at his apartment, but they didn’t let me in. I thought it was just a balloon popping.”

Luna said he saw paramedics trying to revive Chesingto.

“I think by the time they took him from here he was already gone,” Luna said. “I was in shock and couldn’t believe what was happening.”

Luna said he had just seen Chesingto a few minutes earlier. Chesingto had invited Luna to his apartment, but Luna decided to stay outside.

Paragas remains in custody and her case will be presented to the district attorney today, Longshore said.