By Daily Press staff
The mother of one of the two young men killed at a March 5 birthday party in Sunset Park asked Wednesday that donations for her son’s burial be sent to a new location.
People wishing to contribute in memory of Jonathan Hernandez were asked to make checks out to “The Jonathan Hernandez Trust Memorial Fund” and send them to “Wells Fargo; Attention: Service Manager; 2940 Ocean Park Blvd.; Santa Monica, Calif., 90405.”
Donations previously were sent to the Pico Neighborhood Association, a nonprofit neighborhood group. People wishing to contribute in memory of Hector Bonilla, who also was killed on March 5, still were asked to make their checks out to “The Pico Neighborhood Association” with “Victims Violence Support Fund” written in the memo. PNA leaders asked that donations be sent to “PNA; 1705 Pico Blvd., No. 125; Santa Monica, Calif., 90404.” Natalie Preciado, Hernandez’ mother, said she requested the change for donations in her son’s name because it would make it easier to manage the contributions.
“It’s hard to keep track of the money and how much is really coming in,” said Preciado, adding she had received more than $1,300 from the PNA as of Wednesday and another $1,000 from a car wash last weekend at Santa Monica High School.
Relatives of Bonilla said Wednesday they likely would set up a bank account later this week to manage further contributions. Maria Loya of the PNA said the neighborhood group likely would stop accepting donations for the two mens’ families by the end of this week.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 17, 2005. Read the original PDF.