Slain Ice Cream Vendor Spent 25 Years ‘Barely Scraping By’

Carolyn LaFleur’s ice cream van took the same route seven days a week for 25 years.

Her customers across the San Fernando Valley, mostly children, could count on her to be there rain or shine, selling ice cream bars, Popsicles and candy, even running a tab when they were short.

On Monday evening, just minutes from finishing her daily route, the 55-year-old Van Nuys resident was gunned down while sitting in her van in Canoga Park. The teenage suspect is still at large. And now investigators say they are unsure if robbery was the motive, as they initially believed.

“She was caring for 12 grandchildren, working seven days a week, and this guy just robs her of the little life she had,” said Sheri Monterrosa, LaFleur’s eldest daughter.

LaFleur was shot in the upper body at 6:50 p.m. in the 8800 block of Variel Avenue near Parthenia Street, police said. The suspect was described by police as an African American male, between 16 and 18, 5 feet to 5 feet 5 inches tall and 120 to 125 pounds.

The shooting occurred near the end of LaFleur’s route, which typically took about five hours.

“She was barely scraping by,” Monterrosa, 37, said from her Van Nuys apartment. LaFleur lived next door with her younger daughter, Renee Jensen. “She always made sure her grandkids had clothing. And no matter how broke she was, she would make sure she had Christmas gifts to give.”

Jensen said that on a good day her mother made about $75, but sometimes came home with only $20.

LaFleur, who worked independently, began each day in North Hollywood at Dandy Boy Wholesale Ice-Cream and Candy, where she parked and bought her supplies.

She would move west through the Valley and finish her route at De Soto Gardens in Canoga Park, Monterrosa said.

“She was a rock,” said Bob Trop, manager of the North Hollywood company and a close friend of LaFleur for 17 years. “She was an icon here when it came to ice cream.”

Trop estimated that LaFleur took home about $20,000 a year. Her daughters were not sure of the exact figure, but said money had become scarce.

Detectives have not determined a motive and would not say if any money was found on LaFleur.