The death of a 22-year-old woman in a Corona neighborhood Thursday is now raising fears among residents about gang violence.
Nanette Serrano was checking her mailbox outside her home in the 700 block of Joy Street when she was killed during a drive by-shooting, according to Corona Police Department investigators.
The Riverside County Gang Task Force arrested a 20-year-old man in connection with the shooting, but officials have not said if the crime was gang related.
Nonetheless, the shooting is raising fears that gang problems could be creeping into the family neighborhood in the Joy Street area.
"It's a nice quiet neighborhood. There's a church up the street; there's a park up the street. I mean, it's beautiful," resident Maria Campos said.
Another woman, the mother of two daughters, said the shooting left a stray bullet lodged into a kitchen cabinet. A 16-month-old girl lives in that unit but was not struck.
Campos said she moved from Ontario to escape gang violence and never thought it could happen near her new home.
Local
Get Los Angeles's latest local news on crime, entertainment, weather, schools, COVID, cost of living and more. Here's your go-to source for today's LA news.
"Having a gang fight here, it's like, ‘OK, who's the gang members around here? I don't ever see them,’" Campos said.
Just a few miles east, in the community of Home Gardens, gang members are much easier to spot, according to residents.
Two weeks ago, a fist fight involving at least one gang member erupted inside Home Gardens library, seriously injuring a teen girl.
"It's an indicator of how hot the block really is, because it’s trickling to the library, of all places," said library assistant Akiliah Taylor.
On Thursday, the library held a community gang forum to encourage residents to band together against gangs.
The campaign is called "See something, say something."
Gang intervention specialist Jay Franklin spoke at the meeting and said residents are often reluctant to come forward with information because they are afraid of gang retaliation.
"There's a lot of resources. There's a lot of things going on, but at the end of the day we really need the community to step up," Franklin said.
