'There Will Be No Justice': Brother Grieves Woman Gunned Down In Valley Shooting Rampage
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Susie Lepe, the woman gunned down during a 12-hour rampage through the San Fernando Valley, was a beloved sister of 11 siblings, daughter and mother of four.
That's how she was described by her brother, Cuco Lepe, who came to the North Hollywood gas station where she was killed by 26-year-old Gerry Zaragoza, a man she briefly dated and who her family says had become obsessed with her. After bringing a picture of a young Susie to the now-bustling gas station where bullet holes have been covered up, Cuco Lepe says his mother is inconsolable.
"She's an 82 year old lady crying and yelling to bring back her baby and asking me, whatever you have to do, bring back my baby," he said.
Susie Lepe, who left behind four children, was fatally shot at the gas station where she worked, along with a male coworker who was taken to the hospital with critical injuries. The shooting at the gas station was allegedly Zaragoza's second stop – about 45 minutes earlier, police say he had shot his entire family in their Canoga Park apartment, killing his 50-year-old father, Carlos; his 20-year-old brother, Carlos Jr.; and wounding his mother in the arm.
A fourth person was killed on a Metro Orange Line bus at Victory and Woodley in what police say was a random attack. That man has not yet been identified.
Even amid the confusion and violence, Cuco Lepe says there were things he was comforted by – the candles left by strangers, and the neighbor who stayed with his sister as she died. Even the sight of police officers armed to the teeth was a comfort.
"You find police officers, which you're glad to see, with AR-15s, waiting for this guy to show up," Cuco Lepe said.
He says he felt relief when Zaragoza was captured, but now comes the hard task of caring for his sister's children, the youngest of whom is 12.
"The pain he has caused to my mother, the children?" he said. "The sister and brothers will survive, friends will survive, but there will be no justice."
The family has set up a Gofundme to help with her funeral expenses and care for her children.
