The Los Angeles Medical Examiner identified a teenage boy who was shot and killed near a Chick-fil-A in Cerritos on Saturday.
The boy, identified Sunday as 15-year-old Darnell Jones, was shot close to the fast food restaurant located in the Los Cerritos Center on Gridley Road at around 4 p.m. Saturday, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
Video from Saturday showed the area near the Chick-fil-A blocked off with yellow tape, with multiple LASD SUVs and deputies at the scene.
Investigators say Darnell was taken to a hospital, where he died. No one else was shot, officials said.
Details about what led up to the shooting or a possible suspect were unknown.
Family members told NBC Los Angeles that Darnell was going to be a junior at Magnolia High School in Anaheim.
“Darnell was a good boy. He was just a kid, and he got murdered by another kid,” said his father, Tyrell Jones.
He said Darnell is the youngest of eight children.
“I have a good memory with my son at that mall, buying him some shoes for basketball,” Jones said, reflecting on a moment that happened about a year-and-a-half ago. “That’s what’s got me going. That I have a positive memory of my son and I going to this mall to go buy some shoes. It’s already an ugly debbie downer situation and negative, and I’m just grasping and searching for anything positive I can use to be strong for my family.”
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact LASD’s Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500 or Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.