Brian Herrera, 22

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LAPD Newton (South-Central Los Angeles): Brian Alexander Herrera, a 22-year-old Latino man, was shot in front of a house while attending a baby shower near the intersection of Adams and Hooper streets Saturday evening, June 9. Many children were at the party, said Sajjid Rahim, 31, a friend of Herrera’s. About a dozen of them, ages 9 to 14, were in the front yard.

Herrera had gone in front where the children were to get some cigarettes from his car. Rahim, who was was in the back yard, heard several shots and ran in front to find Herrera still conscious but bleeding. The children were not hit. Herrera died later at County-USC Medical Center.

* Update: This case has been cleared. A black youth, a member of a Latino gang, is in custody.

Herrera had lived on his own since he was 15, Rahim said. A native of El Salvador, Herrera worked graveyard shift, seven days at a stretch, in a warehouse near LAX, they said. Saturday was one of his rare days off. He shared the premises with Rahim, pictured at left, and other friends.

The house is on East Adams, an enclave of Spanish-speaking Central American immigrants. Rahim, who is from Pakistan, has an accent that is unusual for the neighborhood. His words, though, echoed those uttered at a hundred other L.A. homicide scenes: ‘If he was a gang member, I’d say, ‘We’ll take care of it,’ he said. ‘But he was just a little kid. No tattoos, nothing...I want people to know. I want it stopped.’

(Left, a shrine, with a Sports Illustrated and cigarettes, had been set up June 10 on the spot where Herrera fell. The photo of Herrera at the top of this entry was snapped at the baby shower about 20 minutes before he was shot.)

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Update: Newton homicide detectives have made an arrest in this case. More information to come.