15-year-old boy gunned down blocks away from his South Gate home

A 15-year-old South Gate boy was shot and killed blocks from his home last week, and the family is reeling.

Daniel Mejia was fatally shot around 8:40 p.m. Thursday while walking home, according to a GoFundMe account created by his family.

“Daniel was a 15-year-old teen, very loving and had a very happy soul; he always brought joy and spread kindness with everyone, family and friends,” the account description states.

The boy’s mother, Elisa Martinez, told KABC-TV Channel 7 that her son and another person were walking when someone approached them and asked where they were from — a common gang affiliation question asked before a shooting. When Daniel didn’t answer, the gunman pulled a weapon and shot him, she said.

“I lost my son. I lost my child. A 15-year-old kid,” Martinez told the news outlet.

The teen’s family says he wasn’t a gang member.

The South Gate Police Department said it is investigating the shooting, adding that it is “not public record yet,” according to Manuela Rodriguez, the records manager for the department.

Anyone with information is encouraged to call South Gate Police Det. Donny Sanchez at (323) 357-9693 or the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500.

Rodriguez said the Police Department would not be releasing any information about the investigation at this time.