Friends Reveal Victim Slain In OC Rampage Was 3-Months Pregnant
LONG BEACH (CBSLA.com) — Friends of Courtney Aoki, the first victim in last week's deadly shooting rampage in Orange County, was pregnant when she was gunned down.
Aoki, 20, of Buena Park, was reportedly shot in the face around 4:30 a.m. Tuesday at the home of Ali Syed on Red Leaf Lane in Ladera Ranch.
Authorities are still not sure how Aoki knew Syed.
An ex-boyfriend told CBS2 and KCAL9 last week that Aoki worked as an escort. Her fiance, Dave Gutierrez, and her best friend, Danni Wood, both now insist those days were long past -- that she only worked as an operator for an escort agency.
Andrea Fujii, reporting for CBS2/KCAL9 Sunday, spoke to Gutierrez and to Wood.
He said Aoki was looking forward to getting married this spring and having their baby in six months. Gutierrez said their love affair was like a movie.
"But dangers of the world just ate up my girl and my kid," he said. "She was going down a slippery slope, people wanted to take advantage of her. and unfortunately I couldn't be there 100 percent of the time."
Investigators are looking into any type of connection between Aoki, her accused murderer and another victim, Jeremy Lewis.
But friends insist she didn't know either man. They hope police can soon solve the mystery of why she was killed.
"My soul, my heart, everything is just shattered," said Wood.
