'Mama esta aqui'
Alma Velasquez was at work when her son, Luis Albert Leon, 19, was fatally shot.
According to family, Leon was sitting on the curb outside a friend's house about 11 a.m. Friday, May 9. Authorities said a vehicle pulled up next to him. A Latino man got out of the vehicle and shot him.
Velasquez said a neighbor went to her work to tell her about the shooting. She said she went to the site, but police told her that her son had been taken by ambulance to California Hospital. 
At the hospital, doctors told Velasquez her son was in surgery. They explained to her that one of the bullets had penetrated his chest, his liver and left kidney.
By 5 p.m. Leon was out of surgery. Velasquez said she walked over to her son's bed and told him, "Mama esta aqui." (Mama is here.)
Leon was pronounced dead at 6:28 p.m. that Friday. He had a 2-year-old daughter.
PHOTOS: Above, Leon and his daugther. To the right, Leon's sister, Natalie Ake, 16, who said her brother was taking her a stuffed teddy bear when he was shot. Left, Leon's blood stains on the teddy bear.
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This is so sad y is this still happening in LA?
We need to stop the violence.
My prayers are with the family & the 2 year old daughter that now has no daddy.
Posted by: Mary | June 11, 2008 at 10:56 AM
Condolences to this man’s family, especially his daughter that will never get to know her Dad.
Is the gang problem primarily a west coast thing? I live on the east coast in a small city (Harrisburg PA) but I have lived in both DC and Baltimore both which have crime (and murders) but reading the homicide report it seems nearly every act of violence is gang related.
Also, what kind of sick, cold-hearted SOB shots a man carrying a giant teddy bear?
Posted by: aric | June 13, 2008 at 07:49 AM
He was a funny guy. Pretty cool to hang out with and had a good heart. R.I.P Luis
Posted by: Anonymous | November 13, 2009 at 02:52 AM