The Antelope Valley Times

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Girl shot and killed in Lancaster [updated]

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Balloons and candles mark the spot where a teenager shot Friday at the Friendly Village mobile home park. Friends and family members who held a candlelight vigil at the scene Saturday evening identified the victim as Rosie Cruz.(Photo by LUIS MEZA)
Balloons and candles mark the spot where a teenager was shot Friday, March 27, at the Friendly Village mobile home park. Friends and family members who held a candlelight vigil at the scene Saturday evening identified the victim as Rosie Cruz.(Photo by LUIS MEZA)

LANCASTER – A girl was shot and killed in Lancaster Friday night, authorities said.

The shooting happened around 9:32 p.m. Friday, March 27, at a mobile home park in the 1300 block of East Avenue I, according to Deputy Guillermina Saldana of the Sheriff’s Information Bureau.

Paramedics rushed the female juvenile to an area hospital, where she was pronounced dead, Saldana said. Her exact age was not released, and as of Sunday afternoon, her name was being withheld pending next of kin notification.

Rosie (Contributed photo)
Rosie (Contributed photo)

However, friends and family members who held a candlelight vigil at the scene Saturday evening identified the victim as Rosie Cruz.

The victim did not live at the mobile home park but had come by to visit friends when the shooting occurred, according to one of the park’s tenants.

“I heard shots, I came outside to see and she was down in the middle of the driveway,” the tenant said.

Homicide detective Eddie Hernandez told the Antelope Valley Press that the girl was hanging out with some friends and apparently got caught in the crossfire when a shooting broke out between groups of Hispanic men.

Hernandez could not be reached for comment Sunday.

Anyone with any information regarding the shooting is encouraged to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500.

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UPDATED 3/30/15: The victim has been identified as Rosario Cruz, 18, according to the coroner’s office and sheriff’s officials. She was known to friends as “Rosie.”

Filed Under: Crime/ Safety

82 comments for "Girl shot and killed in Lancaster [updated]"

  1. You cross my mind everyday , I go to your cemetery every week , I met your boyfriend today we went to the cemetery again were on our way to LA now that’s where he’ll stay , I can’t believe I met him by coincidence he’ll get you tattooed on him & get you your tombstone, we love and miss you EVERYDAY! & anyone of her” friends” sayin it wasn’t her sister [removed] y’all , apparently you didn’t know the story or just want to deny it , but trust we KNOW the truth

  2. R.I.p rosie I love u miss u u were my bff my prima in my eyes well reunite later on life gone but never forgotten forever in my hearts nd I still have our video an the one w u singing love u babygirl rest in paradise

  3. Idk all I gotta say [removed] those [removed] made [removed] that shot her I didn’t know her but I’m down to ride on them hit me up whoever knows who did it

    • People say it was her sister who put the hit on her but it was mtc & mfl who did that coward [removed]

      • I dont give a [removed] put a [removed] in ear [removed] what u heard her sister was her best friend let her r.i.p any one who has negative to say bout her [removed] u and your life hope your mama gets [removed] and u die slow death

        • Petty, we’re on a page for someone we loved that was taken from us & was under the circumstances you just wished upon me, apparently you didn’t know the life she was livin behind all her smiles & jokes but I do , good luck & god bless I woundnt wish death upon anybody espically not when a real one like Rosie can never come back , hope you get everything you deserve …. 3’27

  4. I moved out here to the AV 21 years ago, and have seen the gang members move out here, but even worse children I have watched kids grow up become gang members. The problem is there is nothing for these kids to do out here but hang out, and an Idle Mind is the Devils workshop. Many homes come with single parents out trying to work to take care of their families, many barely making it, so they do not have or make time to look out for their children, so these kids want to belong and have a family, and most times are the most vulnerable to Gangs seeking new members. Many of these kids come from homes where the parents are alcoholics and drug addicts themselves, and simply do not care. In the end lives are lost, families are broken and nobody wins. I pray for Rosie’s family and friends, revenge is not the answer, please think before you act, I know it is painful but nothing you do can bring Rosie back, it will only send you to prison or dead also. Leave it on God’s hands, these people have to remember the life they took at their hands the rest of their lives, and karma does exist, maybe not today or even next year, but it does happen eventually. Peace be with you all. RIP Rosie <3

    • Nothing to do? How bout getting involved in organized sports, civil air patrol, explorer programs for fire and police, Boy scouts of America, church, volunteer at sheltors of hospitals, to name a few options. The opportunities are here, but that doesn’t matter of we as parents don’t “Parent!”. You can’t be a parent and your kids drinking partner, or the person they get “high” with. Bring a parent and being a friend are two different Jobs and should never be merged! The lack of parenting early on is the problem. If you don’t teach children structure, the will make bad decisions continuously. You can’t look or act like a thug then tell yourckidd not to do what chas been displayed in front of them, they’re gonna do what they see! Rosie’s life and death are a direct result of that. Many more will suffer that same fate unfortunately, until parents start being parents and being there to teach discipline and structure in their homes, rather than thinking of themselves smoking, drinking, partying and going to jail.

  5. I once drove in to that place and it was scary everyone was starring at my truck and all the freaken people were in the middle of the street and cared less to move and let cars through luckley I only turned there cause I was lost looking for a business and needed to return the other way but yea that trailer park looks creepy since you first turn in

    • Starring at your truck? Dude where are you from… the best part of Beverly Hills or something? I have lived here for 5 years, and grant it there are better places to live but what you described is so far from the truth. You hear “mobile or trailer park” and what comes out of most mouths are negative remarks. A lot of people just can’t afford to live in the best part of town. I am one of them but the street I live on in Friendly Village… is better than most neighborhoods. Something bad can happen to ANYONE… ANYWHERE. It’s just easier to blame it on the neighborhood than it is to say the unfortunate truth. Bad things can and do happen to good people.

      • I agree Jay…I also live in Friendly Village, for the most part its a nice neighborhood, but just like any other neighborhood, there are people who do negative things in here & that gives the whole park a negative outlook . Thats just not the case tho .

        • I wouldn’t doubt that the shooter/killer lives in that cesspool of a trailer park! That hell hole has all kinds of gang bangers living there! They (law) should surround the place and put it on lockdown…search every single trailer! They’ll find all kinds of drugs, weapons, parolees, etc.! When an unknown vehicle drives into that place you can guarantee that you are being watched! And if they don’t recognize you or your car, they boldly come out in the open to “scope” you out. This starts at the very front of that place!! Vagrants are known to sleep in the vacant trailers, as well! Most of the gang members know each other, so, they must all be from the same one!! The management must know about all this…It doesn’t take an “Einstein” to figure it out !! I noticed it the first time driving through there!

          • Your first time driving through? You must be one of the non-residents driving through to buy drugs and I fully agree with you. You are part of the problem. So… buy your stuff elsewhere please.

      • Dauntless
        March 31, 2015 at 8:07 pm
        I wouldn’t doubt that the shooter/killer lives in that cesspool of a trailer park! That hell hole has all kinds of gang bangers living there! They (law) should surround the place and put it on lockdown…search every single trailer! They’ll find all kinds of drugs, weapons, parolees, etc.! When an unknown vehicle drives into that place you can guarantee that you are being watched! And if they don’t recognize you or your car, they boldly come out in the open to “scope” you out. This starts at the very front of that place!! Vagrants are known to sleep in the vacant trailers, as well! Most of the gang members know each other, so, they must all be from the same one!! The management must know about all this…It doesn’t take an “Einstein” to figure it out !! I noticed it the first time driving through there!

  7. My heart hurts so much for Rosie and her Family…
    I just can’t stop thinking about Rosie and what her family is going through.
    This goes out to the PUNKS ASS FOOS that allowed Rosie to die alone ,
    You will ALWAYS BE A PUNK AND WILL NEVER AMOUNT TO ANYTHING IN LIFE…U CALL IT SELF A GANG BANGER NAWW LEVA UR A PUNK!

  8. The house that the ballons are at are my friends. The lady that lives there who I know, said that she was not shot there she was shot feet away but she started running and she landed ther. Poor Rosie R.I.P. Hopefully they catch those punks.

  10. Omg ! IM SO VERY SORRY THAT THIS HAS HAPPENED TO YOU ROSIE!
    Honestly I think that these little bitch ass foos that did it shall get what they got coming but as for the levas that were her so called friends that left her alone to die shall man up and speak up on what they seen and quit being the PUNKS that they are and step up on Rosies behalf!
    My deepest condolences to her family and friends .Rudy I’m so deeply sorry for the loss of ur beautiful baby girl …I hope that they get caught and get put away for a very long time….once again I’m so so sorry that this has happens to such a beautiful young woman

  11. Does anyone know when her services are I don’t want to miss them for anything?! … Whoever did this just know you got it coming too & I’ll probably be seeing you at the funeral , love you rest easy see you soon I remember when I first met you we hit it off in the worst situation then we had low-key beef w/ each other but then got close again , gone but never forgotten you were an angel to someone I love with my whole soul & I’ll owe you that forever I got you baby and imma make sure karma gets where it needs to be for you

  12. She’d ask….Why was I ok to hang around when you were kissing and hugging on me, but when I got shot, you ran away and left me there? Then she’d say…You said you loved me, yet you ran off and left me. When you used the “L” word, I thought it was “Love.” The truth is, the “L” word to you meant “Leave,” because that’s exact what you did when I fell and couldn’t run anymore, you “Left” me alone to die on the ground like a piece of trash! You know who you are, and so do others. Don’t worry about me, before I closed my eyes for the last time, I was able to see the kind of boy, not man you were!

  13. I have a question…when this happened did the police send enough people out there to find out who lives there and who didn’t belong? Or, did they just let everyone walk away? Did they get a list of names?

    • Actually there were cowards on both sides. Those that shot her, and the cowards that were with her that left her there, ALONE to die! They watched the cops going door to door seeking answers. The real question is, “Why didn’t her SO-CALLED homeboys (punks) stay there with her to give a statement? What’s the answer you ask…..THEY DIDN’T CARE ENOUGH TO HELP WHEN SHE WAS ALIVE, SO WHY CARE AS SHE LAY DYING on the concrete…ALONE! We gonna go to war! This won’t go u answered! It’s on and crackin’! BS, you pushin up on the next female! Out of sight, out of mind! R.I.P. Rosie, from those who TRULY love you.

      • Why are people that are called adults blaming the boyfriend or people who ran? That is not his or anyone’s fault. Apparently she hung out with the wrong crowd and obviously that’s what happens when “gang bangers” bang. They stupidly shoot a target but always hit innocente people/ by stander.
        The community needs to unite for the best interest of the youth that will be the future. People need to stop yelling, blaming, being resentful, vindictive, & stop being the victims of the gangs and the wrong path. Open your eyes, seek the beauty of life.

      • its straight bull how can you be a bitch and just walked away from her it hurts me i lost my sister five months ago so i feel your pain rosie sister stay strong mama

  14. I wouldn’t doubt that the shooter/killer lives in that cesspool of a trailer park! That hell hole has all kinds of gang bangers living there! They (law) should surround the place and put it on lockdown…search every single trailer! They’ll find all kinds of drugs, weapons, parolees, etc.! When an unknown vehicle drives into that place you can guarantee that you are being watched! And if they don’t recognize you or your car, they boldly come out in the open to “scope” you out. This starts at the very front of that place!! Vagrants are known to sleep in the vacant trailers, as well! Most of the gang members know each other, so, they must all be from the same one!! The management must know about all this…It doesn’t take an “Einstein” to figure it out !! I noticed it the first time driving through there!

  16. Law enforcement officers should focus more on stopping and searching everyone that looks suspicious of been afiliated to any gang.
    Is very easy to spot this criminals when they’re up to something bad.
    Some tragedies like this would be avoided if cops had the right to do this.
    But again “so much of civil rights”
    The system that we live in is the one to blame.
    I bet whoever shot and killed this beautifull young girl wasn’t wearing a tuxedo or nice t-shirt with a tie, no of course they will be wearing 10X clothes with the pants falling off their a..s…s.

    • Ok, so tell me what happens when all the bangers do start wearing a suit and tie? You wouldn’t need to profile if there wasn’t such a great divide between the law and the community, especially when they should be one in the same.

      • You’re right and I agree with you, police should do abetter job with the community and work together, but I also think we as a community can do more to help the police reporting all this criminals on our neighborhood and do a better job keeping a big eye on the activities that our kids are doing, we as parents should be equal liable when un underage comits a crime, and dont get me wrong but I dont care if it’s white, black, spanic or asian, a criminal is a criminal without borders.

        • I agree if they started punishing parents harshly for the crimes of their children the entire world would be a better place. When you think about it, it doesn’t make any sense that parents don’t have to take responsibility for their children’s actions other than a fine or risk losing custody, which is almost like saying money solves all problems or even better “hey, is your kid so bad you can’t handle him, we’ll let the state raise him for you so you can move on with life.” I don’t know what we can do to create more unity in the community because everyone looks at their neighbor as if they are enemies, as opposed to partners creating a better living situation. But as usual everyone expects the government to solve their problems for them when this type of violence actually benefits the government; allows them to create more regulation, allow law enforcement to harass even the innocent, and makes communities than can be independent, dependent.

          • “I agree if they started punishing parents harshly for the crimes of their children the entire world would be a better place.”

            I agree 100%.

      • If they all start wearing suits and ties then they get called mobsters or politicians.

  17. People, it’s time we as a community step up and be part of the solution. Some of us know who did this, yet we sit back and say nothing! IF we love them like we say, the. Call the police (anonymously) and let them know who did this. We owe it to the victim and their families. Whose to say the next bullet won’t have your name on it, or that of another loved one of yours. We have the knowledge to help, but we CHOOSE not to! So every weekend we sit around not knowing which one of us, or our family members won’t make it to see next week…sad but true! Time to be part of the solution rather part of the problem. Being silent makes us part of the problem! IJS

    • I promise you if that everyone in your neighborhood wasn’t a stranger to each other (for whatever reason), these things wouldn’t have to happen. People look at race and financial status and put up walls between each other that essentially turn a community into a prison of people just sharing the land, but all living as if serving a term, not caring about one another or the community because they see it as just a place to get out of. Everyone wants to move some place “nicer”, but what good is that if wherever you move you have to say where you came from and those people will assume that your presence implies the devaluing of their “nice” area. The best thing anyone can do is make where they are a better place to live.

      History stays repeating itself because people refuse to learn. What is currently happening around the whole country in cities that were notoriously known as urban or rough? Well, those with money decided they wanted to live there anyway, and now you see people moving back to South Central, back into the Bronx and Brooklyn, back into LA and are forcing the city to make changes so that they can live there, while pushing those that grew up there out because they can’t afford to live there anymore. That will eventually happen with Lancaster. Your city officials/government aren’t dumb people, you have to smart to play politics. When a city gets bad it only gets worst when the officials decide their is something to gain from it. Eventually when the people here start making just enough money to follow those with money and live just around them, those people with money will move back here to get away from them. That’s all your seeing, the value of the city decreasing because certain people refuse to live next to other people.

    • I promise you if that everyone in your neighborhood wasn’t a stranger to each other (for whatever reason), these things wouldn’t have to happen. People look at race and financial status and put up walls between each other that essentially turn a community into a prison of people just sharing the land, but all living as if serving a term, not caring about one another or the community because they see it as just a place to get out of. Everyone wants to move some place “nicer”, but what good is that if wherever you move you have to say where you came from and those people will assume that your presence implies the devaluing of their “nice” area. The best thing anyone can do is make where they are a better place to live.

  19. She had it coming! It was A Set up and people are saying her sister Isabel knowswho killed her but ddon’t want to speak up!

    • How can you say an 18 year old girl “had it coming”? What could she have done in her short life to merit a death sentence by some POS coward !?

  21. God Bless the parents of Rosie I Pray that her family had life insurance for her. I will remember you Rosie always.

  22. Wow!! I just moved from South East L.A. a few months ago. I heard the shots, but did not hear any police, ambulances, or helicopters. I thought nothing of it. It’s so sad that shooting people is the common way to solve problems out here. Whoever accidently shot her is in big trouble. Your lucky it wasn’t a younger child. Either way, you better disappear or you’ll be sorry. I mean don’t let the big boys in jail get you.

  23. so sorry for family now shes watching over you.she an angel.i was a care giver in friendly village about 10 year ago. alot of activity was going on through their in those little streets but what my concern was the fact of the lady i worked for said dont take out the trash after for 4pm and i said why her response was your only 4foot 8inches tall 100 pounds from the you look like a child many child molesters live in this park and across the street and the the vacant mobile homes on the blocks witch their were many abandened places all around she said they will drag you in one and hurt you rape drud you shoot anything goes .we all want to work raise children have good lives lancaster can be a wonderful place to raise children so whoever did this make amends. you either hold your head high look at the sky everday or youll be looking the rest of yourlife walking around lookind down at the ground.never looking anyone in the eye.she already forgave you but now you go make amends with her family. MAN UPNOW ITS YOUR TURN SHE DID HER PART SHE FORGAVE YYOU SHE WAITING

  24. Is this the Rosie Cruz that is attending High Desert Medical College? I really hope not…R.I.P. my heart goes out to her family and friends.

    • You hang around with those kind of people and you’ll quickly realize that there are no true friendships among those crowds, she was obviously trying to emulate them for sure.

  26. you all can thank the ACLU and organizations like that for the state of this city and others, they file lawsuits against the cops, and business for [removed]. they live in big armed guarded houses/communities. let them live in a area that is deteriorating from low life scumbags that think they are tough because they hid behind a gun. i hope they all get what is coming to them.

  27. Ypu know.ots getting stupider.and stupider.innocent people.kids.r.getting.killed behing all the bs ya sure.we have a gun strategy. To keep.just anybody having guns we see thats working put well.how.come.idiots r stil.gaining control.of.gunsand.our banies r dying maybe.its better for.everybody to.have them.maybe we could.protect ourselves better

  28. I love u rosie gone but never forgoten i love u mami rest in pardise see u when i get there baby girl

  29. Everyone talks about Lancaster and Palmdale being bad,look at the news, the entire country h as deteriated people killing their spouses rather than divorceing them,people cuting babies out of pregnant women, child molestations,cowards shooting instead of using their fists like in years past,kids killing parents,parents abusing or killing their kids.people chopping up people like slicing meat for a sandwich .it appears that jail is not a determent take away exercise equipment,tvs’ the only recreation they should be allowed is reading no smokes .give longer sentences where warranted.the next person shot in error maybe someone in my or your family,we can only pray that things change

  33. Yall want more details, av press has story in front page today. Guess she was hanging out at the wrong place at the wrong time

  35. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!!!! I HOPE IF ANYONE HEARS WHO DID THIS THEY COME OUT AND REPORT IT… DON’T COVER FOR THE LOW LIFE THAT DID THIS. PUT UR SELF IN THIS FAMILIES SHOES.. NO ONE DESERVES THIS….. I DON’T KNOW THIS FAMILY BUT I OFFER MY SINCERE CONDOLENCES….

  37. it was in friendly village, shot at point blank range as her friends scattered, it was a hit, from what people say.. Idk what this place is coming to

  38. My condolences to the family of this young lady who lost her life!! My thanx to the Sheriff dept for doing the absolute best you can to keep the A V safe, its a hard struggle & i pray for Lancaster to be the nice safe community it was when i moved here in 1989!! ATTENTION ALL UNDERTOW LOS ANGELES IS THE PLACE FOR ALL THE CRIMINAL ACTIVITY GO BACK THERE & ALLOW THE PEOPLE WHO WANT TO LIVE CLEAN HONEST LIVES TO FEEL SAFE AND AT PEACE!!

  40. Rest in eternal paradise my princess ROSIE all I can say my niece is in a place where theres no pain NO worries in heaven with the rest of our good lords angels. Baby girl we will miss but ur memory will always live in our heart.

  42. R.I.P!!!!! Condolences goes out to her family nd friends, Atho I didnt kno the young teen, It hurts to hear young kids dyin!!!!!

  44. That’s what was goiby on then When all this cops and ambulances passed me how sad May she rest in peace