My Friend Who Passed...

I read this and I cried...

Family and friends of an oxnard man fatally shot sunday outside his mobile home say he was an auto mechanic who supported a family of seven, and they don't understand why he was killed.

Juan carlos martinez, 22, was shot three times in the upper body about 12:15 a.M. Sunday at the pleasant valley mobile home park in oxnard.

Police said the shooting might have been gang-related, but they had made no arrests as of late monday.

"we're not certain that it was gang-related, but some indicators are there. We are certainly not discounting that," said oxnard police cmdr. Bryan macdonald.

Martinez's relatives said they don't know of a possible motive. On monday, they washed cars at a nearby gas station to help raise money for the funeral.

They remembered martinez as the backbone of his family. He was self a self-employed mechanic who helped to support his parents and siblings by repairing cars for people who knew him or referred customers to him, said mayra villanueva, martinez's sister-in-law.

Martinez, whose passion was mechanics, was always available to help others, said amanda estrada, 18, a close friend of the family. Martinez was raised in oxnard and had attended hueneme high school.

He was shot just outside a small wooden gate that encloses his family's small blue-and-white trailer. Neighbors, whose trailers are just a few feet from martinez's, said they thought their homes were under fire because the bullets were so loud.

"my husband thought our trailer was shot, because it was so close. When we looked out, we saw his body there," said maria renteria, 46.

Neighbor anita castillo said she's saddened for martinez's family but is tired of violence in the area. Neighbors said it was the second shooting at the home in a year. Police confirmed they had responded to the home in the past but declined to give specifics.

"i feel bad for his (martinez's) mother. I just want it (the violence) to stop," castillo said, noting that her son had slept on a sofa in the front part of her trailer that night and could also have been shot.

Funeral arrangements are pending. Relatives plan to hold another carwash today at the chevron gas station at ventura and gonzales roads.