Jorge Santana, 20

Jorge Santana, 20, a Latino man, was shot to death at 12:55 a.m. Sunday, July 15, at 14615 Astoria St. in the northeast San Fernando Valley.

He had attended a flyer party, according to LAPD Mission Det. Jim Freund. There were about 25 to 35 people in attendance, mostly in the backyard, Santana among them. He got in an argument with another partygoer, and the suspect shot him in the torso. He was transported to a hospital and pronounced dead on arrival. Police had documented Santana's membership in an East Los Angeles gang, but do not know if this had anything to do with the quarrel.

This was the third Mission area homicide in a row that involved parties, and one of two thrown by so called "party crews," Freund said. Party crews seek locations to throw parties for money. They move them around from location to location, advertise on the Internet, and offer alcohol and "noz" (nitrogen oxide) tanks. Mission police have patrol cars specifically dedicated to such parties. If they find minors drinking, or any other illegal activity, they shut the parties down, Freund said.

Most of the other party guests have refused to cooperate with police in the investigation into Jorge Santana's killing. Anyone with information is asked to call Mission police at (818) 838-9800.

Update: A suspect was arrested then released after the District Attorney declined to file charges citing possible self defense issues.

Comments

[Maria Mansfeld]

it has been five months after the murder of my son and the assessin is still at large. i have been in contact with the detective working on my son's case with very little hope that his case will ever be solved. The detective/officer working on my son's case has given me information that has kept me thinking of what kind of protection and legal system we have in this country. if we have if not the best, one of the best law systems in this country, i truly do not want to know what happens in third wold countries. I am very desilution with our protective laws, and feel very sad for all of us parents that have lost a son/daughter to crime and that our only hope is for our law enforcement system to do something to catch the criminals. One has to understand very clearly that this might never happen, and learn to live with it. Conform and believe that there is a divine justice that will take care of the wrong doing in this world. In the meantime our lives have been changed and alter for ever. We need to learn to live with a loss that was cut short and that should of never happen in such a violent way. This is my first Christmas without my baby. He was only 20 years old. I hope the person/animal that did this hideous crime is being suffering and with not peace in his sould since the day he murdered my son. I only had one son and one daughter. I am now left with my daugher only. I wish to no one in this earth the void and pain the murder of my son and his killer left in my heart.

[laura]

the same thing happened to my friend 3 months ago..my problem is i feel like somehow i was involved with my friends' death.i was involved with the party krew that threw the party in Lake LA,CA.my friend passed away at 11:46pm.
nobody knows excactly why he died.he was gunned down by a stupid gang in Palmdale and nobody knows why.after giving him CPR for almost an hour & with the paramedics never arriving,my friend passed away an hour after being shot in the left lower back.

[A Reader]

It is sad to think these tragedies occur on a daily basis in neighborhoods around the country. How many more must die before we stand up and say we have lived through and have seen enough, that something fundamentally must change or the killings will continue.

Although I'm not sure what that solution ought to be, or whether it would be an elegantly simple one, somewhere in the back of my mind says, as a collective society, such outcomes are all of our responsibility. In this case, the events that have led up to the incident may be too complex to be paint a clear picture. What is clear is that a life has ceased to exist. That life, if given a chance, would have perhaps produced a different outcome, one that is more promising and less painful. Twenty is too young of an age to die.

Maybe it is wishful thinking to hope that one day enough changes would have been made by all of us collectively to end such senseless killings and violence. This is not the kind of world I want to pass-on to our children. It is definitely not the kind of world our children should be living in now. If we don't challenge ourselves to do better, than this life and others like it will have been taken in vain. From this experience and that of others, can we challenge ourselves to leave a different impression in the lives and future of our children?

My thoughts go out to the family and those closest to them.