Three Arrested For Party Shooting

By Kurt Helin
Editor

Three people have now been arrested in connection with a Jan. 19 shooting at a party near Heartwell Park that left two Long Beach teenagers dead.

The eldest of the three arrested is 19-year-old Jonzel Stringer of Bellflower. The other two were a 16-year-old male and a 17-year-old male from Long Beach (the names of minors are not released).

The trio were arrested on two counts of murder and one count of attempted murder, said LBPD Commander Laura Farinella.

“This really comes from investigative followup with people at the party and people in the community,” Farinella said. “There were a lot of youth who were reluctant to come forward. So we reached out to ministers in the African-American community to talk to their congregations, (let them know) that we really needed their help. That helped spark some parents as well.”

The crime took place the evening of Jan. 19 at a birthday party at the Lakewood Masonic Center (just behind Heartwell Park near Woodruff). Organizers had expected to have about 100 people, but the party had grown to more than three times that number of people, according to police.

The LBPD was called to investigate a noise complaint at 10:30 p.m., but by the time an officer arrived eight minutes later, shots had already been fired, according to the police report.

The shots left Dennis Moses, 17, a Jordan High senior, and Breon Taylor, 15, of Los Angeles dead.

A third youngster, a Paramount resident, did not sustain life-threatening injuries and was released from the hospital a couple days later.

While none of the victims were associated with gangs, police suggested at the time the shooters may have had gang connections. Farinella said that those connections are still being investigated.

She added that the investigation is ongoing as the police continue to reach out.

“There were about 400 people there and we’re still trying to reach out to them and get their information, even if they only heard something,” Farinella said.

She asked people who were at the party to help by calling 570-7244.