Two Lives Cut Short

By Olin Ericksen and Gene Williams

March 8 -- One was a devoted father who was the driving force behind his family; the other was a teenager trying to get his life on the right track.

The lives of Hector Bonilla, 25, of the Pico Neighborhood, and Jonathan Nicolas Hernandez, 19, of Ocean Park, were cut short in a spray of bullets late Saturday night after a fight broke out at a private party in Sunset Park.

Neighborhood leaders described Bonilla as a responsible husband and father of three children, ranging in age from less than two to seven years.

“Everyone is saying the same thing, that he was a good husband and a wonderful father,” said Irma Carranza, spokeswoman for the Pico Neighborhood Association.

His wife doesn’t drive, Carranza said, so Bonilla was "responsible for all the basic stuff,” such as running errands, going shopping and taking his seven-year old son to Will Rogers Elementary School.

“It will be hard on the family,” Carranza said.

Hernandez, a volunteer at the Pico Youth and Family Center, was “a joyful young man” who took care of an autistic brother, said the center’s executive director Oscar de la Torre.

"Jonathan, I knew very well,” said de la Torre, who is a member of the School Board. "I talked to him two days ago. On Thursday we were talking about some of his job troubles."

Hernandez was worried that he would be laid off from his job at Costco, de la Torre said.

"His mom told me that he was taking care of his brother,” he said. Hernandez’s brother “was autistic, and he would give him rides to school."

Schools Superintendent Dr. John Deasy called Jonathan a “respectful” 19-year old with a “good sense of humor."

"Jonathon was a student recently in Santa Monica,” Deasy said. “I certainly knew his mom, and I knew him.

"He had made a series of bad decisions and I believe he was working to get himself in the right place,” Deasy said.

"I think there may be many other youths out there like Jonathan, and we've got to continue to try to reach them," he said.