Ivan Perez, 14

Ivan Perez, 14, a Latino teenager, was shot twice in the head at 1146 E. 58th Place, and died at 3:20 p.m. Saturday, July 29.

He was shot and killed by men or youths on foot in the 100 block of E. 58th Place in Florence at about 3 p.m. Sunday, July 29. He died at the scene; his assailants, believed by investigators to be Latino gang members, escaped in a car.

His family was reluctant to say much. Ivan had been in fairly serious trouble with the law and they expressed concern about how his life would be portrayed. But they vividly conveyed their grief. "He was a bright boy and we loved him very much," said his mother, huddled with family members in their small apartment two days after the murder.

Ivan was very tall for his age, liked football, was loving with his young brothers and sisters, and he had talked of wanting to get his mother out of her difficult circumstances, they said. "I tried to raise him on my own, but he needed a father," his mother said.

She learned he had been discovered dead on the pavement some six hours after the homicide. She said she had not thought of funeral arrangements, nor viewed her son's body, preferring to think he might still come home. "I keep expecting him to walk through the door. I should let him go but I can't," the weeping mother said.

Update: Sheriff's Homicide Dets. Angus Ferguson and Jonas Shipe have solved this case. Three Latino men, and one Latino teenager, 17 years old, are in custody, and a fifth suspect is outstanding. Investigators suspect they killed Ivan, a member of their own gang, because they thought he was a "snitch"--someone who had turned over evidence to police. He wasn't.