California couple fatally shot in parked car with infant in backseat

A couple was killed and their 1-year-old child barely escaped serious injury when gunfire struck them as they sat in their car in Los Angeles’ Harbor City neighborhood late on Monday, Sept. 4.

Carlos Loera, 21, and Ashley Guzman, 18, died after someone opened fire on their parked car around 6:30 p.m., said Captain Keith Green of LAPD’s South Bureau homicide unit.

Loera was in the driver’s seat and Guzman was in the passenger seat, Green said. Loera died at the scene from his injuries. Guzman was taken to a hospital, where she also died.

Their child was in a car seat in the back of the vehicle. The baby was struck by what investigators believe was a small bullet fragment. The fragment did not pierce the baby’s skin, Green said.

“(The child) was very fortunate,” he said.

Police investigate an Infiniti sedan that had been shot at after a shooting left two people dead in Harbor City on Monday, Sept. 4, 2023. (Photo by Raphael Richardson, Contributing Photographer) 

The infant was taken to a hospital to be evaluated and has since been released to family, Green said.

It’s unclear who targeted the couple — investigators did not know yet whether there were multiple shooters or just one. But detectives believe whoever fired at the vehicle approached on foot.

Green said a vigil for the couple was being held Tuesday night.

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