PASADENA, Calif. (KNX) — The death of an innocent 13-year-old boy has sparked outrage in Pasadena, where Mayor Victor Gordo said he is committed to finding Iran Moreno-Balvaneda’s killer and bringing justice to his heartbroken family.
“There are no words that can fully do justice to truly express our feelings and thoughts for the Moreno family, and for our larger pain as a community for yet another senseless loss,” Gordo said in a statement.
“As a father, I cannot fathom the unbearable anguish that Iran’s parents are going through at this moment and the pain that they will live with for the rest of their lives.”
13-year-old Moreno was home playing video games in his bedroom when a stray bullet went through a window, fatally hitting him around 6 p.m. Saturday in the 900 block of North Raymond Avenue, police said.
Police do not believe that the boy was targeted, but rather that the shooting stemmed from a spike in Pasadena gang activity.
Family members are still trying to understand how this could happen.
“Iran was a 13-year-old son, brother, grandson, nephew, cousin and friend with a bright future ahead of him,” a friend of the family wrote on a GoFundMe organized to help pay for Moreno-Balvaneda’s funeral.
“We will never be able to say or do anything to take away [his family’s] pain, in that aspect we are helpless. However, we can pull together to help take away pressure that we do not want them to have to think about.”
Following the teen’s death, Mayor Gordo canceled a regularly scheduled city council meeting Monday to hold a press conference regarding the death, during which he said an obvious solution to violence in Pasadena is to stop gang violence by increasing police patrols.
“We should and we must do things differently,” Gordo said. “We can’t expect that we will disengage with gang members in this community or anyone who was shooting weapons in this community and allow them to continue to do that.”
City Councilman John Kennedy said the ending of Moreno-Balvaneda’s life will not be tolerated and the message that he and city officials are sending to the community is simple — turn the shooter and anyone related to the shooting in.
Anyone with information about the case is encouraged to call Pasadena police at (626) 744-4241. Anyone who wishes to remain anonymous may call L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477.
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