{"id":521458,"date":"2026-11-07T06:36:23","date_gmt":"2026-11-07T06:36:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/521458\/"},"modified":"2026-11-07T06:36:23","modified_gmt":"2026-11-07T06:36:23","slug":"north-high-stars-take-field-for-cif-playoff-days-after-former-player-william-aviles-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/521458\/","title":{"rendered":"North High Stars take field for CIF playoff days after former player William Aviles\u2019 death"},"content":{"rendered":"

BAKERSFIELD, Calif.(KBAK\/KBFX) \u2014 Friday night lights carried a heavier meaning for the North High School Stars as the team took the field for a CIF playoff game just days after the shooting death of former player William Aviles.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A 16-year-old boy was shot and killed at a large party in southwest Bakersfield early in the morning on Halloween. CREDIT: KNN.NEWS, GoFundMe<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just sad. It\u2019s really sad that kids can\u2019t go and enjoy themselves because there\u2019s always something happening. And it\u2019s just really devastating actually,\u201d said Veronica Slavens, identified as a North High grandmother.<\/p>\n

Police said Aviles, 16, was shot and killed Oct. 31 near a large party in the 3500 block of South Half Moon Drive in Bakersfield. Officers found him with major injuries, police said. He was taken to a hospital, where he later died.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were heartbroken. He\u2019s such a great kid. He was friends with all the boys on the team. We just adored him and his family. It was a shock to our community,\u201d said Timari Duty, a football mom.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A 16-year-old boy was shot and killed at a large party in southwest Bakersfield early in the morning on Halloween. CREDIT: KNN.NEWS<\/p>\n

Aviles played football at North High School. On Friday, the Stars played their first CIF playoff game since his death.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re just out there for their boy this game, you know, to just be there for him and support his family. And, you know, they love him and they\u2019re just going to show off for him tonight,\u201d Duty said.<\/p>\n

In a social media post, the North High School football team announced Aviles\u2019 death, saying in part, \u201cHis life, memory, and impact will never be forgotten.\u201d<\/p>\n

A GoFundMe fundraiser was also set up to help Aviles\u2019 family, saying in part, \u201cGood people outnumber those who cause harm by a great margin.\u201d<\/p>\n

Duty said she did not know Aviles\u2019 mother well but said, \u201cI do know that she supported the kids a lot. She was always out here for them.\u201d She added, \u201cSo we\u2019re just here to support her and love on her as best we can and hopefully, you know, she can get through this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"{p}The<\/p>\n

The Bakersfield Police Department is asking any bystanders who witnessed or recorded the deadly shooting that happened on Halloween on South Half Moon Drive to submit it to the department. PHOTO: BPD<\/p>\n

Police said investigators are still working to identify who is responsible for Aviles\u2019 death and believe people who attended the party may have information that could help solve the case. No arrests have been made.<\/p>\n

The Kern Secret Witness Program is offering up to $20,000 for information leading to an arrest and prosecution in Aviles\u2019 homicide. Anyone with information was asked to call the Bakersfield Police Department or Kern Secret Witness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BAKERSFIELD, Calif.(KBAK\/KBFX) \u2014 Friday night lights carried a heavier meaning for the North High School Stars as the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":521459,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[151,153,152],"class_list":["post-521458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield-headlines","tag-bakersfield-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=521458"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521458\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/521459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=521458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=521458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=521458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}