Mourners gather at vigil where mother and girl, 4, were shot in Long Beach

The downtown Long Beach intersection where an unknown shooter killed a woman and her young daughter Saturday night has been transformed into a place of public mourning.

The intersection, where E. Ninth Street crosses Locust Avenue in a usually quiet neighborhood, was the scene of a Monday night vigil where several mourners gathered to grieve for Carina Mancera, 26, and daughter Jeabel Anaya, 4. Additionally, a gym called Epic Strong aounced plans to host a Saturday evening event called LB Love Your Community Walk. Plans, which organizers said are still pending, call for participants to meet at the gym’s address on Long Beach Boulevard before proceeding to the intersection of E. Ninth and Locust.

Epic Strong co-owner Joy Tsuhako said the purpose of the plaed walk is to show solidarity with the victims’ family members and to keep the public’s attention focused on the crime, as it remains unsolved.

“Part of the reason that this touched us so much is, we see ourselves in the family,” said Tsuhako, who also lives in the area.

“It felt very personal.”

That march is scheduled to begin 8 p.m. Saturday at Epic Strong, 1157 Long Beach Blvd. The aouncement calls for participants to wear white shirts and to bring candles.

Police investigation

Long Beach police on Tuesday said they have no new information in the case. During a press conference Monday, Long Beach Police Sgt. Robert Woods said the 4-year-old and Mancera — along with her husband and Jeabel’s father, Luis Anaya — were on their way home after grocery shopping about 10:20 p.m. when a gunman walked toward the family and opened fire at close range.

Woods, who said Monday, “We have as many boots on the ground as possible” as police search for the killer, also said there are no indications that the shooting was gang related.

Police do not know whether the shooter knew the victims.

“With all the evidence we have right now, it is a whodunit,” Woods said. “I’ve been doing this for a while, and this one baffles me.”

Monday’s vigil

Votive candles and Long Beach’s city streetlights provided faint illumination for the several mourners who gathered in near silence to pay their respects to the fallen mother and daughter. Some huddled in small groups to comfort each other at the intersection, where a cluster of photographs, flowers and balloons laid on the sidewalk and functioned as a memorial to the victims.

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Those who gathered at Monday night’s vigil included a man who said his friendship with Mancera dates back to the time when they were 13-year-old students attending George Washington Middle School — half a lifetime ago.

“Anybody that graduated in ‘04 would tell you this was the best year of our lives,” Gabriel Sanchez, 26, of Long Beach said while reminiscing on his days hanging out with Mancera in middle school.

In life, Mancera had a strong sense of humor and “was always cracking jokes,” Sanchez said. He said he managed to keep in occasional contact with Mancera during adulthood and recalled a chance encounter with the woman and little Jeabel that took place about a year and a half ago.

“We were just talking about old times,” Sanchez said. “I met her daughter. I shook her little hand.”

Sanchez and the others stood in a place where mourners had used colored chalk to write messages of love and remembrance.

“It hurts,” Sanchez said. “And all I did all day and last night was, I broke down crying.”

How to help

Woods said Monday investigators do have video evidence to examine, but also implored any witnesses to come forward with information that may help detectives crack the case.

“We need the public’s help on this,” Woods said during the media conference, adding that police had only received three calls offering information to investigators.

“I thought we would just have an influx of information coming from the public, but we haven’t had it yet,” he said.

A GoFundMe page established to help the victim’s family has received pledges of nearly $32,000 as of about 5 p.m. Tuesday.

Long Beach police request anyone who may have information related to the killings of Mancera and Jeabel to contact detectives Scott Lasch and Michael Hubbard at 562-570-7244.

Information also can be provided anonymously by calling 800-222-8477, sending a text message begiing with the letters TIPLA and followed by the information plus to CRIMES (274637) or going online to www.lacrimestoppers.org.

Staff writer Courtney Tompkins contributed to this report