Killings Show High Risk of Homelessness

Last Saturday was Alex Francisco Rangel’s 40th birthday, and he celebrated alone where he lived, underneath the Judge Judy billboard along First Street in Santa Ana, in the corner of a vacant lot where the La Cascada bar once thrived.

What happened in the hours before dawn may never be known.

Sunday morning, Rangel was found dead between the billboard posts. Though an autopsy was inconclusive on the cause of death, by all appearances he had been badly beaten.

It was the second homicide death of a homeless man in Santa Ana in the past six weeks. On Aug. 26, 52-year-old Wayne Randall Gilbert was found shot to death in an abandoned lot he’d made home along 17th Street, just off Fairview Avenue. The two homicides appear unrelated. But Gilbert was also killed late at night.

“When you’re living on the streets, you’re always vulnerable at those hours,” said Santa Ana Police Sgt. Raul Luna, the department’s media liaison.

A recent county assessment estimates some 20,000 people here are homeless. The threat of becoming a crime victim is one more burden as they attempt street survival.

“It wears on them mentally because without a dwelling, they know they have no security,” said Jim Palmer, executive director of the Orange County Rescue Mission, which tries to find as many shelter beds for the homeless as it can.

First and Newhope, where Rangel was killed, turns out to be a popular spot for the homeless. Nearby is a huge headquarters parking lot for Charlie’s Foods, which operates more than 100 lunchtime catering trucks. Sometimes the drivers returning from their daily runs will hand out food to the homeless, if it’s leftovers that can’t be kept for the next day.

No Enemies, Nothing Worth Stealing

“He would never ask for food they were serving,” said Jesus Bailon, who briefly knew Rangel, though not by name. “He’d only ask if they had any leftovers.”

Bailon operates L.P. Gas, a propane gas supplier, at that intersection. He estimated that Rangel had been living under the Judge Judy billboard for “maybe a few months.” Bailon always lets the homeless use his restroom--”Someone has to help them out,” he said--and noticed how clean Rangel kept it.

“A lot of homeless, they don’t really appreciate what you’re doing for them,” Bailon said. “But this fellow always showed respect.”

Jose Negrete, a security guard at Charlie’s, found Rangel’s body early Sunday morning. He was face down in a pool of so much blood, Negrete said, that because of Rangel’s long hair, he thought the victim was a woman.

The police gathered up Rangel’s meager possessions. But left behind when I got there was a battered red Target shopping cart on its side, filled with rotted potatoes, an orange peel, a paper cup and plastic fork, plus, for reasons only the victim would know, a man’s black drawstring bathing suit.

The other victim, Wayne Gilbert--who went by Randy--was well-known by many near the Fairview / 17th intersection. For at least three years, he’d lived somewhere in the large commercial center of small shops, anchored by a Stater Bros., on the north side of 17th.

Three years is how long Dan Giang has owned a small grocery there. And from his very first day, Gilbert was outside his store early in the morning, waiting for him to open.

“Every day, Randy would buy a bottle of beer; he’d never miss,” Giang said. “Miller High Life, $1.34. Then he’d go behind my store and drink it.”

Gilbert would make his daily beer money selling cans and panhandling, Giang said.

Mily Garcia, who runs a hair salon on the south side of 17th, said she was shocked to see Gilbert come in and ask for a haircut for the first time, just a week before his death. Because she knew he was homeless, she asked him to pay in advance. He not only paid for the $7 haircut, he left a dollar tip.

But it was about that time that a shopping center customer complained about Gilbert seeking money, so the police took him to jail. When he returned to the street, Gilbert moved his permanent spot to a vacant lot on the south side. Le Xuo Ng, who runs a water supply store in the north-side shopping center, said Gilbert would sleep each night under a huge elm tree.

It was under that elm tree on Aug. 26 that Gilbert was shot to death.

Giang remembers how surprised he was that when he opened his store, Gilbert wasn’t there waiting for him. Then he saw the police cars across the street.

“Why?” wondered Giang. “A person like that, he has no enemies. He has nothing to take. Why would anyone shoot him?”

Chances are good his killer may never be found.

It’s not that the Santa Ana police haven’t tried. Every place I went seeking information on him, the police had already been there.

The problem with solving homeless homicides, said Sgt. Luna, is that the victims have no known history.

“Because they have no roots, it’s difficult to track their movements, or find out who knew them well enough to become an enemy,” Luna said.

Police have not ruled out in either of these homicide cases that the perpetrators might have been other homeless people.

“Among the homeless, there’s a hierarchy system just like in any other community,” Luna said. “You can’t rule out that these two might have gotten into an argument with someone they knew.”

The Rescue Mission’s Palmer adds another somber note, that some homeless homicides across the country simply have been hate crimes. Killing the homeless for sport because of who they are.

The coroner’s office has reached some of Rangel’s relatives but have asked the media to run Gilbert’s photo, to help it locate his next of kin. Santa Ana police ask that if you know anything about either of these homicides, to please call the 24-hour hotline number it has set up for their investigation: (714) 245-8701.

Like any other murders, someone has to know something.

* Jerry Hicks’ column appears Monday and Thursday. Readers may reach Hicks by calling (714) 966-7789 or e-mail to jerry.hicks@latimes.com