Father of 4-year-old slain in Long Beach: 'I tried to save them but it was too late'

A woman and her 4-year-old daughter were shot to death in downtown Long Beach late Saturday night as they retued home from grocery shopping.

Police said Sunday that officers responded to the area of Locust Avenue and E. 9th Street at about 10:20 p.m., and found the woman and girl had been shot by an unknown assailant, according to a statement from police.

The woman, identified as Carina Mancera, 26, was declared dead at the scene by fire persoel, police said. The girl, identified as Jeabel Anaya, 4, was transported to Long Beach Memorial Medical Center in critical condition, but she died from her injuries at the hospital early Sunday moing, a Coroner’s spokeswoman said.

Police said Sunday detectives have no information on the possible shooter or shooters. A motive was not known.

Family mous

Friends, family and neighbors gathered Sunday afteoon at the coer of Locust and 9th Street where the shooting occurred. It is a mostly residential area dotted with apartment buildings two blocks east of Pine Avenue.

Luis Anaya, 27, the husband and father of the victims, wept as he answered reporters’ questions the day after the killings. He said he had just parked his car after retuing from the market with his wife and daughter Saturday night.

Carina and Jeabel had crossed the street, and he was grabbing a few things out of the car when he said he heard the gunfire. He tued and saw both of them fall to the ground.

“I ran over and tried save them but it was too late,” he said, tears welling in his eyes. “I couldn’t.”

A man on foot, who he said he did not know and had never seen before, also fired shots at him too, but missed. The shooter then took off ruing down the street, Anaya said. He said he did not know what the man’s motive could have been.

“I don’t know why he did it, why he came after my family,” he said. “I don’t have any problems with anybody.”

Bo and raised in Long Beach, Anaya lives about a half-block from where he graduated high school, at Renaissance. He works in construction at LAX.

Juan Jimenez, 26, Luis’ friend and co-worker, said when he heard about the shooting, he rushed down to the scene with his girlfriend, Briaa Ojeda, and some friends he and Luis went to high school with.

“Luis called me this moing to see if I could come pick up the laptop so I could tu time cards in for the guys,” he said. “I asked him what happened and he told me he lost both his girls.”

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Bunches of daisies, roses, and brightly colored bouquets decorated the sidewalk, next to a dozen candles, a teddy bear and a picture of Luis, Carina and Jeabel.

Gabriel Sanchez, 26, a longtime friend of Carina’s, said his niece called him Sunday moing and told him a woman had been killed, and she thought it was someone he knew.

“I went online and I opened up a link to the news story and my heart dropped,” he said. “I just started shaking. I couldn’t keep still.”

Sanchez said he first met Carina at Washington Middle School when the two were in seventh grade. Over the years, they kept in touch, off and on.

“Any time I ran into her, it was like time hadn’t passed. Still the same, joking and laughing,” he said. “She was a real cool person. She had a good heart. I never thought her time would be up at this age.”

Friends and family set up a Go Fund Me page for the father of the girl and husband of the mother.

“Our family is heartbroken with this tragic event, and we hope that you can help us give these two beautiful souls a graceful resting place,” the page says.

Long Beach police said detectives believe people in the area witnessed the crime, and urged them to come forward. Anyone with information regarding the shooting to call detectives Scott Lasch and Michael Hubbard at 562-570-7244.

Anonymous tips can be submitted at 1-800-222-8477, texting TIPLA plus your tip to CRIMES (274637) or visit lacrimestoppers.org/.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story said the girl was 3 years old, which is what the Coroner reported. Police said she is 4.