$100,000 reward offered after 14-month-old boy is shot dead in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES -- A sign on the fence in front of his family's Hickory Street home reads Angel Mauro Cortez Nava, lists his date of birth and death, displays photos of him as a newborn and on a rocking horse and includes the words "We Love You."

What it does not convey is the outrage the 14-month-old's killing has caused inside and outside the Watts neighborhood where the child was gunned down by a bicyclist Monday night.


The shooting is "an awful tragedy" that has unsettled the department's highest ranks, Los Angeles police Chief Charlie Beck told the department's oversight board Tuesday.

Teenage assassin
"Gang violence touches everybody," he said. "People have to understand that even though gang members may target each other, victims cross a wide, broad swath. It's extremely unfortunate."

A teenage assassin wearing a hoodie and riding a bicycle killed Angel and injured his father, Mauro Cortez, 24, as the man cradled his son on the sidewalk near his home, police said.

The cyclist fired several shots as he rode by, police said.

The infant was shot in the stomach and died at a hospital following surgery. The father was struck in the shoulder and was released from the hospital Tuesday.

They have not released a motive, but Beck, relatives and neighbors all pointed to the gang feud.

The Los Angeles Times reported that Cortez was wearing a purple T-shirt reading "I own a Honda, be nice to me" at the time of the shooting.

The attacker was black and the father is Latino, authorities said. Neighbors told the Times they may have been caught in the crossfire of a six-month turf war between Fudgetown, a black gang, and the Hispanic Barrio Grape Street gang, who reportedly use the color purple.

Cortez "didn't know nothing about people killing each other over the color purple," friend Luis Ramos told the Los Angeles Times. "He barely speaks English."

The city council voted Tuesday to offer a $50,000 reward for information leading to the suspect's arrest and conviction.

The Los Angeles Kings, on the verge of winning their first Stanley Cup, doubled the reward by offering their own $50,000, the team announced Tuesday night.

Tim Leiweke, president of the group that owns the Kings, said the team was offering the reward "to make sure everyone knows this is unacceptable in our city."

In an interview with CBS2 Tuesday, Cortez said through a translator that he was devastated. He asked the public for help finding the gunman.

'This has to stop'
The gang feud has resulted in more than a half-dozen killings in the area in the last year, police said.

"I have seen plenty of people pass away here. For a child to go, this has to stop immediately," neighbor Marcus Williams said. "When a child, a child, a baby, this kid didn't have a chance at life. It really hurt. I'm afraid to let my kids play in the yard now. This is right across the street."

Cortez is an immigrant from Jalisco, Mexico, who did odd jobs, friends and relatives told the Times. When he showed up three years ago, the Cervantes family took him in, matriarch Sara Cervantes said.

Cortez had no links to any gang, neighbors said.

"He was always here playing with the baby. The baby was his life," said Maria Trujillo, another member of the family. "With these shootings going on, you don't feel safe in your own front yard," she added.

The Associated Press and msnbc.com staff contributed to this report.

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Hmmm. A black teenager wearing a hoodie kills a hispanic baby and injures his hispanic father. Isn't there a parallel here w/ trevon martin? If you encounter a group of black teens wearing hoodies does your heart race? Duh-oh, they wear them for a reason.

    Reply#162 - Wed Jun 6, 2012 11:21 PM EDT

    California has some of the most strict gun laws in the nation. Maybe it is time for politicians to have a look at the real cause of violence there - even - with these strict gun laws - there seems to be plenty guns available for those who want them.

    Here is a start - when a gang member gets convicted for a murder (or other crime) - charge the entire gang with the same crime. It is their rules that require their members to commit these crimes - let them share the responsibility and the prison time - even execution of the entire gang.

    • 1 vote
    Reply#163 - Thu Jun 7, 2012 12:26 AM EDT

    That is a great idea. Birds of a feather get caged together!!

      #163.1 - Thu Jun 7, 2012 11:21 PM EDT
      Reply

      Is this how the younger generation is growing up as? YES! I was working the other day and heard a 8yr little girl talk about her "V-Card" and how her friends were losing it and how she was going to try to lose it. A couple days before that I had to break up a fist fight in an elementary school I was visiting between two 10 yr olds. Pretty sad what the world has come to this day in age. Everyone that has children needs to talk to them and discipline them. Remember, everything starts in the home and works its way out.

        Reply#164 - Thu Jun 7, 2012 12:27 AM EDT

        I guess knowing the english language could have prevented this death. He would have known not to wear purple.

        • 1 vote
        Reply#165 - Thu Jun 7, 2012 12:56 AM EDT

        There have been so many reports like this of bystanders being shot and killed that we don't seem to comprehend that it might be necessary to impose martial law in areas where these occurrences happen.

        I live in a large city and read of these deaths caused by gunfight all the time. Children sprayed by bullets caught in crossfires. A mother lying over her child on their living room floor at the sound of gunfire and then actually finding bullets in her home.

        Why haven't officials created martial law? What is stopping them? Chester, PA's mayor imposed a curfew to slow down the carnage. It seems so obvious to me. I guess it's money and manpower, both in short supply.

          Reply#166 - Thu Jun 7, 2012 1:38 AM EDT

          Because the those who are sympathetic to the ghetto would call such tactics as racism.

            #166.1 - Thu Jun 7, 2012 11:35 PM EDT
            Reply

            "Cortez is an immigrant from Jalisco, Mexico, who did odd jobs, friends and relatives told the Times."

            hmmm, interesting....Is he really an immigrant or is he really a criminal who broke into our country, illegally. I feel bad for the guy, but if he's an illegal, we need to send his ass back to where he came from....after he serves time in jail for breaking into our country. We also need to get the guard troops to hunt all those gang members who are not citizens of the United States. They are foreign invaders who must be eradicated from our country. If this insults you, f.uc.k you. I don't give a damn. Our country is slowly turning into the pile of s.h.it that Mexico is. That must stop. If he's really here legally, then I take everything that I said back about sending him back. I support immigrants, I don't support illegals.

              Reply#167 - Sat Jun 9, 2012 2:52 PM EDT

              Obama is declaring Latino gang bangers "endangered species"!

                #167.1 - Sun Jun 17, 2012 4:45 PM EDT
                Reply

                Gangs gangs gangs I don't like gangs

                  Reply#168 - Sun Jun 10, 2012 9:08 PM EDT

                  May the killer burn in Hell. YES, that's what a baby killer deserves.

                    Reply#169 - Tue Jun 12, 2012 5:57 PM EDT

                    $100K to go to a gang members family?

                      Reply#170 - Sun Jun 17, 2012 2:57 PM EDT

                      Why is it that gang banger bullets always seem to hit little kids. Should we start teaching target shooting in grade school?

                        Reply#171 - Sun Jun 17, 2012 4:43 PM EDT
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