Stray Bullet Kills Boy in South-Central

As 12-year-old Ernesto Escobedo strolled with his family toward a bus stop in South-Central Los Angeles, a stray bullet struck him in the head.

The Mar Vista boy died Monday afternoon, almost a day after he was shot near 54th Street and Budlong Avenue.

“It just isn’t fair, he was barely starting his life--he never once started a fight or anything,” said Imelda Escobedo, Ernesto’s 16-year-old sister.

Imelda says her family remains in shock.

“My mother just can’t believe he’s gone,” she said. “We love him very much and we’re going to miss him.”

Ernesto had just finished visiting his stepfather, who was walking with him and a younger brother and sister to catch a bus to the children’s home in Mar Vista Gardens.

“The stepfather heard something, turned around and thought his son was having a seizure,” said Lt. Sergio Robleto of the Los Angeles Police Department. Ernesto was taken to County-USC Medical Center, where he died.

Ernesto lived with his mother, brother and two sisters in a rough neighborhood where, Imelda said, the temptations for truancy remain high. Nevertheless, Ernesto rarely missed class at Marina del Rey Middle School and was imbued with a drive and sweetness, family and friends said.

“He loved school and always had good grades and an excellent attendance record,” Imelda said. “He was quiet, but funny and liked to collect baseball and football cards.”

Adela Oceta, a longtime friend of Ernesto’s mother, said he wanted to be an architect and eventually build or buy a house for his mother.

Robleto said that although many people were standing near the corner where Ernesto was shot, none said they heard gunfire. Seeking witnesses to someone shooting the gun is like “looking for a needle in a haystack,” he said.

Police asked anyone with information to call the LAPD South Bureau at (213) 237-1310.