In the early hours of Wednesday, November 27 2002, 16-year-old Martha Puebla was lying in bed in her home on the corner of Lull Street and Case Avenue in Sun Valley, a neighbourhood in the San Fernando Valley. Shortly before 2:00am, she heard a tapping sound at her ground floor window.

Looking out, she saw her friend Sofia standing outside. Sofia wanted Martha to go out with her and her boyfriend, 18-year-old Christian Vargas, who was waiting in his car out front. As Martha deliberated whether or not to go, a man in a hooded sweatshirt approached Christian’s car. Suddenly, gunshots rang out, causing Sofia to leap through Martha’s bedroom window to hide…