Moose Lodge Victim’s Wife Carries On

By Olin Ericksen
Staff Writer

March 8 -- Hector Bonilla had a life to live for.

A family man with a wife and three young children, he held a technician job with the City he hoped would help his family move into a larger two-bedroom home in Los Angeles. Bonilla and his wife, Krizna Ayala, even dreamed of becoming small business owners together one day.

All of those dreams came to an end last year when alleged gang members shot Bonilla and Jonathon Hernandez multiple times at a Santa Monica party, killing them both and shattering their family’s lives in an instant. (see story)

The one-year anniversary of the murders came and went this weekend.

A memorial was held at St. Anne's Church for Bonilla and Hernandez, and a rain-soaked makeshift shrine sprung up outside the Moose Lodge in Sunset Park where the grizzly double homicide unfolded in front of more than 50 witnesses.

Symphathies were imparted to the families, as City and State officials are gearing up March 18 to tell the community what they have accomplished in the year since the murders to end gang violence.

Those gestures, as nice as they are, seem somewhat empty, says Bonilla's 25-year-old widow, who 12 months later is still picking up the pieces of her family’s life.

"It's not easy," said Ayala, “I have three boys who miss their dad.”

Over the past year, Ayala said, adjusting to her new role as a single parent has been difficult, a reminder that the ripples of gang violence have lasting consequences.

She now cares for her two, three, and nine-year-old sons, as well as her mother, who is battling cancer. In addition to being a full-time mother and caretaker, she is a full-time student and works nearly 20 hours a week at Santa Monica College.

The $300 she receives from the government for each child does not add up to much, said Ayala. And the two-bedroom home in Los Angeles that was supposed to be their future refuge was abandoned after Bonilla’s death.

“There’s no way we can move into that place now,” she said. “We sleep in the living room of my mom’s house now.”

Even simple items are a struggle to provide.

“I can’t say there has been a single time all year that I have been able to go out and buy my kids new clothes or whatever, because we just don’t have the money,” she said.

Beyond the financial strain, the loss of Bonilla packed an emotional punch as well.

“My youngest bangs his head against the wall now,” a habit she says the toddler didn’t exhibit before Bonilla’s death. “The doctors says its because he misses his dad.”

Her middle child, too, exhibits fits of anger associated with the sudden loss of a family member.

There is some solace in the fact that Santa Monica police believe they have Bonilla and Hernandez’s killers, Ayala said.

“I’m really happy because of how many murders go unsolved,” she said.

But even that comfort is overshadowed by the fact that Bonilla, in multiple news reports after the murder, was portrayed as a gang member named “Limpy,” adding to an already impossible situation.

In his later years, the 25-year-old Bonilla was nothing but a family man trying to better his life and the life of his kids, Ayala said.

“My kid asked me who ‘Limpy’ was, and I couldn’t answer,” she said. “Those (news reports) completely changed his image. All he did was go to work and come home to his kids.”

Despite the hardship, Ayala is carrying on.

She is taking a full load of classes at Santa Monica College, and she hopes a business degree will help her follow through on one dream she shared with Bonilla before his death -- one day they hoped to own a sporting goods store.

"That was our dream," said the 25-year-old Ayala, choking back the tears.

In the meantime, she hopes her plight will inspire Santa Monicans and others to fulfill their promises to take concrete action to stand up to gang and youth violence, something Senator Sheila Kuehl and others will address in a town hall-style meeting later this month.

“I haven’t seen anything change, everything seems the way it was when Hector was killed,” she said.

For 10th grader, Eddie Lopez, who was gunned down last week, it’s already too late, she said. (see story)