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FORT WORTH — Maria Lopez warned her teenage daughter weeks ago about the trouble gangs could bring to a family.
Zuly Ledesma, 16, and her 18-year-old boyfriend had had a run-in with several south Fort Worth gang members who had hit his car."I told her to stay away from them because they were nothing but trouble," Lopez said Wednesday, speaking in Spanish from a friend’s home in south Fort Worth. "I told her they could bring a gun the next time."That next time happened Saturday night. Ledesma was shot in the head as she and her boyfriend were driving on Seminary Drive.Lopez’s only child died Sunday morning at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth.Police have arrested two boys ages 14 and 15 in connection with the shooting.The suspects, who are not being identified because they are juveniles, were arrested on delinquent conduct/murder warrants Tuesday night, Fort Worth police Sgt. J.D. Thornton said. Police were still searching Wednesday for an adult suspect.Thornton identified all three suspects as gang members.Police have said Ledesma was riding in a car with her boyfriend, apparently the intended target of the shooting, when a car pulled up alongside theirs at a stoplight on Seminary Drive at the La Gran Plaza mall entrance. As of Wednesday, police had not released the name of Ledesma’s boyfriend.According to a police report, occupants of the car shouted their gang affiliation at Ledesma’s boyfriend and pointed a gun toward his car.The boyfriend ran the red light in attempt to get away, and an occupant of the other car opened fire, striking Ledesma in the head, police have said.Thornton said the boyfriend and the suspects had had altercations. The suspects had apparently just left a movie at the mall when they encountered him again, Thornton said.On Wednesday, as the investigation continued, Lopez was scrambling to get money to bury her daughter. One of Lopez’s friends had a donation box ready to place at her job."I clean houses, and I just don’t have much money," Lopez said Wednesday.Ledesma, who was born in Los Angeles, moved to Fort Worth with her mother about eight years ago for a fresh start. Ledesma’s father left the family when she was younger and has never tried to contact her, her mother said.Ledesma dropped out of Paschal High School last year, but she wanted to enroll in a home-school program, Lopez said.At about the same time she dropped out of school, Ledesma met her boyfriend, and they rented an apartment in south Fort Worth. Her boyfriend had a job at a restaurant in south Fort Worth, Lopez said."She got a job, and she bought a car," Lopez said. "She had been working steady for almost two years."Lopez remained in shock Wednesday over her daughter’s slaying."She was my baby," Lopez said. "She was just starting to live her life."Staff writer Deanna Boyd contributed to this report.DOMINGO RAMIREZ JR., 817-390-7763
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