Homicide Report > Melody Ross, 16 [Updated]
Melody Ross, 16 [Updated]
Died Oct. 30, 2009 at 10:53 p.m.
Melody Ross, a 16-year-old Cambodian teen, was shot and killed Friday, Oct. 30, in the 4400 block of East 10th Street in Long Beach as she left Wilson High School's homecoming football game, authorities said.
The following is an excerpt of Times staff writers Ruben Vives and Ben Bolch's story about the shooting:
The "Supergirl" Halloween costume that 16-year-old Melody Ross wore to the Wilson High School football game was befitting of her promising resume: honors student, pole vaulter and athlete, positive attitude, aspirations to attend UCLA.
Those were the attributes that Ross' friends and family recalled Saturday as they gathered near the stadium gates at the Long Beach campus. They placed flowers and votive candles at the spot where she was fatally shot Friday night as she and her friends were leaving the Wilson homecoming game against Polytechnic High School.
The daughter of Cambodian immigrants, Ross died at St. Mary's Hospital at 10:30 p.m., half an hour after she was shot, said her uncle, Sam Che.
Two men, ages 18 and 20, were wounded in the gunfire and hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, police said. They are not believed to be students at either school, and their identities were not released.
No arrests have been made, police said.
[Update September 12, 2011: Teen found guilty of murder in Melody Ross slaying]
[Update Dec. 19, 2011: Gang member gets 155 yearsin slaying of honors student Melody Ross]
Photo: Friends and classmates gather at a makeshift memorial near the football stadium where Melody Ross was shot. Credit: Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times
- Neighborhood: Long Beach
- Age: 16
- Gender: Female
- Cause: Gunshot
- Day of the week: Friday
- Agency: Long Beach PD
- Race/Ethnicity: Asian
15 reader comments about Melody Ross
How could anyone be so stupid as to shoot into a crowd of people. I hope this guy rotts in prison and every single day someone tells him how much of an idiot he is. These guys need to learn to fight with their fists and not use guns like cowards.
Feb. 3, 2010 at 9:37 p.m.
Nicely put Johnny
Feb. 19, 2010 at 8:15 p.m.
This is definatly a tragidy. I have personally seen what gun violence can do, so it really hurt me to read this and re-live those memories. This girl didnt deserve to die, but all we can do is pray and start fixing our communities because thats exactly where all this crazy stuff starts from. I hope her family can make it through.
Much Love,
Sarah
March 8, 2010 at 5:39 p.m.
Sarah, remember what you just said when it comes to election day.
Ask yourself before you vote;
Did the candidate make the community safer?
Did the candidate improve education?
Did the candidate improve the economic prospects?
March 8, 2010 at 9:02 p.m.
This is seriously a tragedy and is really unfair! I hope whoever killed her lives a horrible life. I'm still not really over this because its just sad. R.i.p Melody Ross and I hope the family is doing okay <3
March 15, 2010 at 12:15 p.m.
Omg this is so really sad .... :( i hope her parents are doing better . I can't even think bout how there suffering . R.I.P Melody . She will never be forgotton by her friends and family members ........... I also hope her friends are doing better .
April 24, 2010 at 10:22 p.m.
Those gang bangers are not humans.
They will pay for taking my cousins life.
Aug. 20, 2010 at 4:35 p.m.
These gang members need to get the death penalty. Quick, fast. get the word out . Stop gang violence in Los Angeles!
What a tragedy! SO Sad. Im sorry for her family and friends. SO SORRY!
Dec. 29, 2010 at 10:54 a.m.
I'm so sick of these gangs. This girl was still a child. What did she do to anyone? Nothing. She is dead for no reason.
Dec. 30, 2010 at 5:02 p.m.
— m. richardson .... the gangsters who terrorize the killing field neighborhoods are sociopaths who don't care about the damage they do to others.
To them, its a way of life. And I am convinced that the gang enablers who support them are the key to solving this wretched mess. They are the keystones. Take them out of the picture and these barbarians will wither on the vine.
Dec. 30, 2010 at 10:19 p.m.
These monsters who have no guidance or purpose for living are pariahs.
They prey among the people who actually have value & contribute to the good of society. My prayers go out to the family & friends who have lost a beautiful young girl. I am sick at how little those murderers care about human life.
Sept. 13, 2011 at 8:35 a.m.
I knew Melody very well. Once I herd i wrote her this:
To the ends of time I will love you my friend
Knowing that you're gone leaves me bend
An angle to me you were so kind
Raising my sprits with ways i can not find
Over and over the days with you replayed
loving you so much wished you would have stayed
Now each day i die a little bit
An empty void replaces what i feel
Growing sadder and sadder, will i ever heal
From the jove i felt for a friend
Oct. 18, 2011 at 3:57 p.m.
Melody was caught in the cross- fire, the killer also hit his 2 enemy targets as well. He's been convicted and is serving a 155 yr term.
May 20, 2012 at 4:14 p.m.
Melody , you were taken from this world far too early . You were one of my bestfriends . I miss you !
Oct. 5, 2012 at 10:44 p.m.
Emily i know your little sister is proud of you, knowing that you walked into school like nothing had happened. how in front of people you were so strong, not showing tears in your face after losing one of the most important person in your life.. i would of been devastated for months, not worrying about life or school or even graduating with our class. But you did!!
i met your sister once and just because you introduced us that one time, who would of known that would be the only time i ever said hi to her. Because of what happened, wilson became so united, so in sync when we all wore black that whole school week after homecoming, how instead everything that was going on in that school was blocked off, they were helping those in need with counceling and grief sessions during class. Sometimes you think why weren't theyre metal detecters at the gates before coming in the game , why ? i'ts just questions that cant be answered because only god knows what happends and why everyting is done. When i found it was the sister of a girl i've known since jefferson i started to cry just because 2 minutes before the shooting i was with my little brother that was the same age as your sister on the other corner of the auditoruim, we walked to 10th to get picked up and when we were infront of the 100 building entrance ... bang ! bang! everyone started running , i remember i ran so fast looking where my little brother was at, finding out he was half a block infront of me i felt so reliefed. still the things that everyone went through brought alot of people closer. class of x no regrets!!
hope you and your family are blessed (:
Nov. 25, 2012 at 12:33 a.m.
Share a memory or thought about Melody Ross