One of the four young people killed in a mass shooting and fire in Lancaster earlier this month has a family who is both sad about their loss and happy about the 21 years they had with their loved one.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department says that Miguel Sandoval, 19, shot and killed three people: Matthew Montebello, a talented musician who was studying medicine; Edwin Garcia; and siblings Christine Aca-ac and Janvi Maquindang. Sandoval was a housemate’s angry ex-boyfriend.
On November 16, just before 1:30 a.m., cops were called to a home in the 44500 block of Tabler Avenue in Lancaster because there had been reports of a shooting.
When firefighters got there, the house was on fire and there was a lot of smoke.
The Los Angeles County Fire Department was able to put out the fire and find five bodies. Three of the victims had been shot and were pronounced dead at the scene. Another person who had been shot also died at the hospital.
The fifth victim was not hurt. She was Aca-ac and Maquindang’s 16-year-old sister. During the event, she hid in a room and called 911.
At first, police thought the teens and young adults were having a party. But now they say the accused 19-year-old gunman broke into the house while everyone was sleeping.
The police said Sandoval left the house after the killing and was caught hours later.
Matthew’s mother, Celeste Montebello, said that they had just enjoyed their son’s 21st birthday six days before the terrible event.
“The house is supposed to be safe for us, and it hurts that someone went there and did this to him while they were sleeping,” she told Michelle McGraw on KTLA.
Andrew Matthews, Matthew’s brother, said that they were best friends and that the pain is unbearable.
He said, “Parts of me have died or are dying.” “I feel like I will never be the same.”
Andrew said that Matthew was very good at math, origami, and being creative. He had also won a lot of awards as a kid.
Celeste also said, “Full of personality, very smart, and very quirky.”
Celeste and Andrew said they had one last message for the person who killed their family member while they were still in terrible pain from Matthew’s death.
Celeste told KTLA, “I want this bad guy to know that you failed and that he failed at this.”
She also said that Matthew would live on in other people even though he is dead. One of her friends is going to get her son’s kidneys to try to save her life.
She said, “God willing, it means I can see my friend every day if the surgeries go well.”
People have set up GoFundMe pages for the families of Matthew Montebello, Edwin Garcia, and the twins Christine Aca-ac and Janvi Maquindang to help pay for the costs of burying their loved ones.
The case will be given to the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office on November 25 so that they can decide whether to file it.
The LAPD’s Homicide Bureau can be reached at 323-890-5500 if you know anything about what happened. Call 1-800-222-8477 or go to lacrimestoppers.org to give tips to L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers without giving your name.
