A story for every victim

Maria Teresa Aguiar, 59

Maria Teresa Aguiar, a 59-year-old Latina, was shot and killed Saturday, July 12, in the 1700 block of North Summit Avenue in Pasadena, according to Los Angeles County coroner’s records.

Aguiar was shot while she was trying to run away from a home after her father, Luis Fernando Aguiar, 91, was shot and killed, officials said.

A police officer in the area saw Aguiar on the sidewalk and attempted to help her when the gunman shot at the officer, said Pasadena Police Chief Phillip L. Sanchez. The officer was pinned behind a patrol car and was uninjured. Aguiar was pronounced dead at 5:21 p.m. at the scene, according to coroner’s records.

Jose Hernandez Iribe, a 31-year-old man who lives in the neighborhood, was north of the shooting and “ran toward the gunfire,” Sanchez said. He was also fatally wounded.

Two other people also suffered “moderate” injuries during the hour-long ordeal.

The alleged gunman, identified by police as John Izeal Smith, a 44-year-old black man, barricaded himself in a home and called the police department’s communications center.

Diane Marin, the emergency operator who took Smith’s call, recounted his alleged words.

“He said, ‘I killed someone,’” Marin said at a press conference July 14.

Smith surrendered to Pasadena SWAT officers outside the home after speaking for 20 minutes with Marin, who was assisted by a crisis negotiator.

Smith was charged July 15 with three counts of capital murder with the special circumstance of multiple murders and a special allegation that he personally and intentionally discharged a rifle, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office.

Smith was armed with two assault rifles and one semiautomatic pistol but the gunfire came from one weapon, Sanchez said. In addition, Smith was charged with three counts of attempted murder, including the attempted murder of a police officer.

A motive for the shooting remains under investigation but Sanchez said a landlord-tenant dispute and a “long-term relationship” between the suspect and victims appear to be the “main themes.”

An arraignment was scheduled to be continued on Aug. 7.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Pasadena Police Department at (626) 744-4241; anonymous tipsters may call (800) 222-8477.

-- Los Angeles Times staff

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