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Angelica “Angie” Gonzalez, Janelle Bello’s aunt, kneels at the site of the July 8 fatal shooting in front of a cross bearing both Bello\u00a0and Ulises Ledesma’s names.<\/p>\n
Courtesy of Angelica “Angie” Gonzalez<\/p>\n
Janelle Bello told her mother, Valerie Valdez, she was going to visit her boyfriend in Dallas<\/a> as they were grocery shopping on July 8 in Fort Worth<\/a>. Though Bello assured Valdez she\u2019d return before her babysitting gig Thursday morning, something didn\u2019t feel right, Valdez remembered thinking. A mother\u2019s intuition.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cJanelle, don\u2019t go,\u201d Valdez recalled telling her.<\/p>\n Her daughter replied, \u201cDon\u2019t worry. We\u2019re just going to hang out.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Then, Thursday came, and Bello hadn\u2019t come home. She hadn\u2019t called, Valdez said, and her phone\u2019s location had been the same for 15 hours. Dottie Conoly, whose two kids Bello was supposed to watch, hadn\u2019t seen the 19-year-old either.<\/p>\n As a family,\u00a0Valdez and her sisters, Angelica \u201cAngie\u201d Gonzalez and Kayla Arciniega, began searching. They called hospitals and police departments and drove around Mesquite, where her phone was last active, all wondering the same thing: Where is she?<\/p>\n Related: \u2018Turn every stone\u2019: Arlington police make arrest in 14-year-old cold case with help from FBI<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThe first thing a mother wants to know is if her child is okay,\u201d Arciniega said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe all thought she was going to come back,\u201d Conoly said, recalling a conversation she had with Bello\u2019s brothers when she went looking for her. \u201cBut she didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Bello and her boyfriend, Ulises Ledesma, 18, died in South Dallas after a shooting<\/a> in the 3400 block of Michigan Avenue shortly after 9:30 p.m., Dallas police previously said. The two were identified by the Dallas County medical examiner’s office.<\/p>\n Janelle Bello, right, and Ulises Ledesma, left, pose for a Christmas photo together.<\/p>\n Courtesy of Angelica “Angie” Gonzalez<\/p>\n What followed was an hours-long search for two juvenile suspects, according to police dispatch audio reviewed by The Dallas Morning News.<\/p>\n According to the audio, police were fanned out in two directions when\u00a0the shooting occurred to\u00a0exhaust various leads on where the suspects had fled, with no success.\u00a0<\/p>\n As the night wore on, Bello\u2019s family and friends had questions that police<\/a> weren\u2019t yet able to answer. The waiting was hard, Valdez said. Anxiety and frustration festered as she dwelled on\u00a0Bello\u2019s disappearance.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Bello\u2019s family said they weren\u2019t told she was positively identified until July 10; some didn\u2019t find out until the 11th.<\/p>\n Janelle Bello, right, walks alongside her aunt, Angelica “Angie” Gonzalez.<\/p>\n Courtesy of Angelica “Angie” Gonzalez<\/p>\n Once apprehended, the suspects, a 14-year-old boy and a 15-year-old boy, were taken to Henry Wade Juvenile Justice Center, according to a previous police statement. They face capital murder<\/a> charges.<\/p>\n The News requested the incident report, arrest warrant affidavits and 911 calls from the city of Dallas and police. They were sent to the attorney general\u2019s office and ultimately denied due to the suspects’ ages and ongoing investigation.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve seen people saying there are a lot of shootings in Dallas, that it\u2019s nothing new. But it\u2019s something we never suspected would happen,\u201d Gonzalez said. The one thing she knows, she said, is that Bello and Ledesma are no longer here.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u2018Ray of sunshine\u2019<\/p>\n Bello was the oldest of four and set to graduate from high school in August. She had dreams of going to college and becoming an engineer, Valdez said.<\/p>\n She spent much of her free time at home with her family\u00a0\u2014 dancing, laughing\u00a0\u2014 and would visit Dallas some weekends to see Ledesma. Her aunts remember her as the \u201cjoy<\/a> of the house,\u201d an intelligent girl with a bright future.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone wanted to be around her,\u201d Valdez said. \u201cShe was a good girl.\u201d<\/p>\n Janelle Bello, left, stands with Joe Davila, right, before his high\u00a0school’s ROTC military ball.<\/p>\n Courtesy of Erica Davila<\/p>\n Joe Michael Davila III, 19, had been friends with Bello since kindergarten. His aunt, Erica Davila, said she was part of their family.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cWe took her on so many trips,\u201d he said, reminiscing about drives to Corpus Christi, stays at the Omni Hotel and adventures at Fort Worth\u2019s Dream Park. \u201cShe was a good friend, one of my best friends.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhen they were younger, Janelle would bring out the goofy side of Joe,\u201d Erica Davila said. \u201cHe wasn\u2019t afraid to be himself. Everybody just wants to know what happened [to her].\u201d<\/p>\n A young Janelle Bello, right, enjoys a snow cone\u00a0with Joe Davila, left. The two have been friends since kindergarten.\u00a0<\/p>\n Courtesy of Erica Davila<\/p>\n Conoly, who had employed Bello as a babysitter for over a year, expressed similar sentiments. Though she hadn\u2019t known her as long, Conoly said, the impact Bello had on her life and her children was irreplaceable.\u00a0<\/p>\n The past couple months she had been seeing Bello frequently, Conoly said, and getting to know her better as a person made it even harder to lose her.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Related: Arlington police, FBI arrest suspect in 2012 fatal stabbing<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cShe was a very nurturing person,\u201d Conoly said, recalling how good Bello was with her 1-year-old son. \u201cI think she would\u2019ve been a really good mom\u2026 She was bold and brave, and she was very loving to my kids.”<\/p>\n \u201cShe was a ray of sunshine,\u201d she said, as her voice trembled and she teared up.<\/p>\n Loss of 18-year-old leaves ‘immeasurable void’\u00a0<\/p>\n Three things Ledesma will always be remembered for, according to his obituary: A kind heart, gentle spirit, and the joy he brought to those who knew and loved him.\u00a0<\/p>\n His family didn\u2019t respond to interview requests from\u00a0The News. According to his obituary, Ledesma\u00a0leaves behind four siblings along with his mother, father and grandparents.<\/p>\n \u201cUlises’s life was a precious gift, and while his passing leaves an immeasurable void, his love and the moments shared with him will continue to inspire those who knew him,\u201d his obituary said.<\/p>\n Bello\u2019s family recalled meeting Ledesma only a few times. He seemed like a nice boy, Conoly said.<\/p>\n Janelle Bello, left, and Ulises Ledesma, right, create a heart with their fingers for a photo booth picture.<\/p>\n Courtesy of Angelica “Angie” Gonzalez<\/p>\n Ledesma\u2019s visitation and rosary services were held July 15 at Pilar Funeral Home in Garland, and his mass and burial were held the day after in Dallas at Our Lady of San Juan de los Lagos and Laurel Land Memorial Park.\u00a0<\/p>\n A GoFundMe<\/a> started by his father raised nearly $1,500 for his funeral expenses<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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