19 Lose Lives in County Violence Over Weekend

One of them was strolling with a friend in West Hollywood. Another was on the job in Watts. Most of them were under 30 and male. On the last weekend of their lives, a total of 19 people were shot or knifed to death in Los Angeles County.

It was not as bad as a weekend last August, when 28 people died. But “it’s way beyond what you usually have,” said Los Angeles Police Department spokesman Rigoberto Romero. “This is crazy.”

Homicide detectives Sunday were seeking suspects in all but 16 of the 19 cases. Arrested on suspicion of murder were Dialo Parker, 20, of Palmdale and Rino Suriano, 33, of Los Angeles.

Suriano was booked on first-degree murder charges in the death of his mother, Carlota Brown, 49, of Northridge. She was killed about 2:30 a.m. Saturday at her home on Oak Park Avenue, Romero said.

Sheriff’s deputies said Parker, a gang member, shot two men to death at a gas station mini-mart on Palmdale Boulevard. The shootings occurred after a group of five men, most of them from rival gangs, began arguing inside the mini-mart, sheriff’s deputies said.

Antwon Giles, 22, who deputies said was not a gang member, died at the scene about 11:30 p.m. on Friday. Kevin Robertson, 22, died a short time later at Palmdale Medical Center.

In West Hollywood, Mauricio Bassa, 32, was shot to death as he walked in the 1200 block of Sweetzer Avenue with a man deputies believed was Bassa’s roommate. The victims were approached from behind about 2 a.m. Saturday by a man who struck Bassa’s friend over the head with a handgun and then shot Bassa.

The attacker then jumped into a car driven by another man and sped off. Bassa died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. A sheriff’s spokeswoman said the motive for the attacks was not apparent.

In South Los Angeles, a 57-year-old security guard at the Watts Towers Art Center was shot to death about 5:30 p.m. Friday. Police withheld identification pending notification of his family.

A few miles away, a birthday celebration turned deadly for 33-year-old Kerry Jones. A group of suspects crashed the party and shot him around 2 a.m. Sunday, police said.

Among the others killed, police said, were:

* A 21-year-old man involved in illegal drag racing in Sylmar early Sunday morning. He got into an argument with gang members and was shot. His name was not available.

* Freddy Martinez, 21, who died at St. Francis Medical Center shortly after being shot about 11 p.m. Saturday at a baptism in Lynwood. It was unclear whether Martinez was among a group that had allegedly crashed the baptism.

* Steven Ferraro, 30, found shot about 10 p.m. in front of his house on Allora St. in Norwalk on Saturday. Neighbors had reported hearing an argument.

* Jesus Villa, 17, shot twice in the upper body about 3 a.m. Saturday in Lennox when a car of rival gang members drove up. Villa was working on his car in the parking lot of an apartment complex.

In Torrance, a woman’s gold necklace stopped a stray bullet fired during a gang fight, police said. Rafaela Ramos, 33, suffered only minor injuries from the bullet, later found embedded in her necklace. She was hit when gang members sprayed rivals with gunfire during a nearby traffic dispute Sunday night, police said.

Sunday was quiet at Venice Beach, where a gang brawl caused police to close the boardwalk a week earlier. But officers were called to the Oakwood section of Venice to back up Nation of Islam patrols that assembled in force after a confrontation with gang members the night before outside a federally subsidized apartment building. The Nation of Islam has a private security contract to protect the buildings. No arrests were reported.

Times staff writer Ken Ellingwood contributed to this story.