Okay, so this isn’t exactly breaking news.
At first, I was waiting for more information. Then I found myself putting it off as long as possible because I just didn’t want to write about the colossal waste of life and immense idiocy of yet another gang shooting.
All because a boy was riding his bike in the wrong neighborhood, or wearing the wrong colors.
Or just, you know, because.
And yet, there it is.
About 6 pm Sunday night, 15-year old Jimmy Hernandez was riding on the 2000 block of West Myrtle Street in Santa Ana when a vehicle pulled up next to him. One of the people inside fired a single shot; Hernandez fell off his bike and tried to walk away before collapsing and dying at the scene, as the driver sped away.
A Santa Ana gang detective stopped a burgundy Lexus in the area, leading to the arrest of known gang members and convicted felons Brian Jose Miguel and Alberto Santana, 18 and 20-years old, respectively.
KABC-7 reports Miguel will be charged with murder, while Santana faces a parole violation related to the murder.
The two are suspected in two other recent shootings, as well.
Now one young life has been snuffed out, almost before it has even begun. And two others have been carelessly thrown away, likely facing a lifetime behind bars.
And if that’s not a waste of life, I don’t know what is.
This is the fourth fatal shooting of a bike rider in Southern California so far this year, and the first in Orange County. That compares with nine last year.
My deepest sympathy for Hernandez and his family.
