Dion Holloway, 17, told friends he was glad he was not affiliated with gangs because he did not have to look over his shoulder when he walked down the street in northwest Pasadena.
But on Sept. 25, Dion was shot and killed on a sidewalk in what police say was one of Pasadena's 10 gang-related killings this year. His family believes Dion was mistaken for a gang member.
The killings have contributed to a growing sense of unease in northwest Pasadena and fears that gangs are becoming a larger force in the area.
Although 10 gang-related killings is a relatively small number compared to the figures in some cities -- there has been only one other homicide, unrelated to gangs, in Pasadena this year -- the toll is startling because of the city's recent peaceful history. In the three previous years, there was a total of 13 gang-related killings.
From 2000 to 2003, there were one or two gang homicides every year, but none of the victims were juveniles. This year, in addition to Dion, a 16-year-old girl died in a shooting linked to gangs.
According to estimates that police say are conservative, there are 11 gangs with about 500 identified members in Pasadena and Altadena, the unincorporated community to the north. Gang activity in the city is almost entirely restricted to the northwest region, where most residents are black or Latino, city officials say.
Fear of gangs prompted Margie Geary to keep a watchful eye on Dion. Geary was his legal guardian, and he considered her his grandmother. "Dion never went anywhere by himself," she said. "I drove him everywhere."
On Sept. 25. Geary, 62, was in the hospital for knee surgery, so that night, Dion walked to a friend's house to pick up some CDs. He never made it.
A little after 10 p.m., police found him dead of multiple gunshot wounds on the sidewalk in the 1700 block of Belmont Avenue. Three men have been arrested in the death of the youth, who had recently become a father and dreamed of playing football for USC and the NFL.
His mother, Vanessa Shepherd, 46, had spoken to Dion a few days earlier. "I had told him to be careful on the streets," she said.
Shepherd, who lives in northwest Pasadena, said she intends to move away, as have others she knows in the area.
Police Chief Bernard Melekian, who came to Pasadena in 1996, compared the situation today to the 1993 "Halloween massacre," when three trick-or-treating teenagers were killed by gang members.
