During the party, a group of 3 young men tried to crash the event.
An hour or two later, as Daniel was leaving the party, he was confronted by 3 assailants.
The suspects were described as 3 Latinos in their late teens wearing dark clothing. One suspect shot at Daniel multiple times, hitting him once in the chest.
Because there was not enough information from witnesses at the time, police did not know if the two events were related or if the group of 3 suspects were the same group as the party crashers.
He walked back into the Elks Lodge, where he then collapsed.
He was taken to St. John's Regional Medical Center in Oxnard, where he died Sunday, March 3, 1996, at 12:05 am.
No suspects have ever been arrested or identified. There were a lot of witnesses at the Quinceañera that evening but none had offered enough information to identify any suspects.
Daniel was a student at Ventura College, studying criminology. The Friday before he was killed, he told his father he wanted to become a Port Hueneme Police Officer. Nothing links Daniel to any gang activity and was known as a teenager that was really active in the community. He worked for the Port Hueneme housing authority for the past 2 years before his death.
Police have not been able to find any motive for the murder and there have been no arrests related to this case.
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Last updated September 19, 2016
