Christmas Eve massacre causes grief in Mexico as well as Covina, CA

Minutes before the Christmas Eve attack, the extended Ortega family had exchanged holiday greetings with relatives in their native Torreon, Mexico.

By Hector Becerra December 30, 2008 - LA Times

As they had for years, the two families -- one in the city of Torreon in Mexico, the other in Covina -- called each other late Christmas Eve on a two-way radio. In Covina, about 25 people -- Joseph and Alicia Ortega, their five children and their grandchildren -- celebrated.

In Mexico, about 35 of their relatives celebrated at the home of Lilia Llamas Sotomayor, their niece. It was about 11 p.m. Amid the revelry, family members clicked a button on the radio and took turns wishing each other Christmas greetings.

"We did that every year. We were always used to calling each other on the radio," Llamas Sotomayor, 51, said. "This year, it was my turn to host the party. It was, 'How are you? We're all together here. How are you over there?' They were happy, and we were happy." Llamas Sotomayor said it was the next day, Christmas Day, that her nephew Charles Jr. called her brother Ernesto in Torreon to tell him about what had happened just minutes after the festive conversations that traversed the radio and two countries.

Charles told his uncle that his grandparents, Joseph and Alicia Ortega; his father, Charles Sr.; his mother, Cheri; his uncle James and his wife, Teresa; his aunt Sylvia; and his aunt Alicia and her 17-year-old son, Michael, had been killed.

"It was horrible. We still can't believe it," Llamas Sotomayor said in a phone interview from Torreon, in the central Mexican state of Coahuila. "We talked to them minutes before this happened." They were stunned to learn that Sylvia's ex-husband, Bruce Jeffrey Pardo, had dressed up as Santa Claus, shot an 8-year old niece in the face and then killed nine of their loved ones, burning to the ground a home that had become familiar to them over many years.

Suddenly, an act of violence in a Los Angeles suburb had become a painful event for residents of a city in central Mexico, a reminder of the close bonds that remain between Mexican immigrants in California and their families back home.Relatives in Torreon held a Mass for their U.S. relatives over the weekend. They had been used to visits by their American uncles, cousins and nephews. They in turn frequently visited the elder Ortegas' home in Covina. But now relatives in Torreon were traveling to Los Angeles to attend a mass funeral and to help figure out how best to care for the surviving children.

Joseph, 80, and Alicia, 70, visited Torreon at least twice a year. Alicia was born in Torreon. Joseph was born in the U.S. but his parents were from Torreon. In an interview with a reporter for El Siglo de Torreon newspaper, Consuelo de Dorantes, a sister of Alicia Ortega, described the day her sister and Joseph Ortega fell in love. While visiting his parents in Mexico in 1955, Ortega saw Alicia in front of her parents' home and said, "I'm going to marry her." He wooed her for several months before they married in Torreon. Then they moved to L.A. But the families kept in touch.

De Dorantes told the Mexican newspaper that every third Monday of the month, Alicia Ortega would call her and her sister Lilia -- Llamas Sotomayor's mother -- in Torreon. "Hola, hola, how are you?" she would greet them cheerfully before embarking on hours-long conversations, De Dorantes recalled. When their U.S. relatives visited, they would be served their favorite foods, including chile rellenos, mole, pozole and flavored shaved ice. "The whole family shook with happiness whenever they came," De Dorantes told El Siglo.

The elder Alicia's family in Torreon, the Sotomayors, were relatively well-to-do and well-known, with many in the family running successful businesses. Some sent children to study abroad in Canada and Scotland. Most of the younger Sotomayors spoke English, gleaned both from studying and from travel, Llamas Sotomayor said.

Joseph and Alicia Ortega had brought some of that business savvy with them, opening a shop where industrial parts were painted. Some of their children worked at the shop, and eventually one of their sons, Charles Sr., took over operations of the business, with help from his young son. "He was my uncle's right hand," Llamas Sotomayor said Monday, referring to Charles Sr. "He was always worried about them. They didn't travel if Charlie didn't go. Every time they came, Charlie came with them." Charles and his wife, Cheri, had five children; the eldest, Charles Jr., is in his early 20s, Llamas Sotomayor said.

Also killed in the attack was James Ortega, who was Joseph and Alicia's oldest child.Both of the Ortegas' sons were killed Christmas Eve.The Ortegas had three daughters, two of whom were also killed. One of them was Alicia Ortiz, who was killed with her 17-year-old son, Michael. "She was very strict. Her children spoke perfect Spanish, they wrote it and read it very well. She educated them very well. She wasn't a scolder, but she was strict about their study. She wanted them all to be very good," Llamas Sotomayor said, adding that she thought Alicia may have been a school nurse.

Sotomayor said some of her own siblings would take trips with the Ortegas and their children to Las Vegas, or go camping in the mountains. Sometimes, family in Mexico and the U.S. agreed to meet in different locations, such as Cancun, to get together.

About three years ago, many relatives in Torreon traveled to L.A. to celebrate Joseph and Alicia Ortega's 50th wedding anniversary. "We had a big fiesta. Everyone here went there," Llamas Sotomayor said. "That family had an energy that was very impressive, that didn't stop. They were very happy. They traveled a lot. They took trips to stay united."