The drive-by shooting death of a 22-year-old woman just hours before a forum meant to address gang violence in Corona has residents fearful of more attacks creeping into the neighborhood of families.
Nanette Serrano was checking her mailbox outside her home in the 700 block of Joy Street when she was killed in a drive-by shooting, police investigators said.
A 20-year-old man was arrested in connection with the shooting, but the Riverside County Gang Task Force has not said the slaying was gang related.
The shooting on Joy Street is raising fears among families in the community.
"It's a nice quiet neighborhood. There's a church up the street. There's a park up the street. I mean, it's beautiful," Maria Campos said.
A mother of two daughters, Campos lives in an apartment above a unit where a stray bullet pierced a window and lodged into a kitchen cabinet, pictured below. A 16-month-old girl lives in that unit but was not hit by the bullet.
Campos said she moved from Ontario to escape gang violence and never thought it could happen near her new home.
"Having a gang fight here, it's like, OK, who's the gang members around here? I don't ever see them," Campos said.
Just a few miles east, in the community of Home Gardens, gang members are much easier to spot, according to residents.
Two weeks ago, a fist fight involving at least one gang member erupted inside a Home Gardens library, seriously injuring a teenage girl.
"It's an indicator of how hot the block really is because it’s trickling to the library of all places," library assistant Akiliah Taylor said.
The library hosted a community gang forum Thursday to encourage residents to band together against gangs, hours after Serrano was gunned down. The campaign is called "See something, say something."
Gang intervention specialist Jay Franklin spoke at the meeting and said residents are often reluctant to come forward with information because they are afraid of gang retaliation.
"There's a lot of resources there's a lot of things going on,” Franklin said. “But at the end of the day, we really need the community to step up."