New ‘Innocent Victim’ Slain : Violence: Police believe Andrew Villanueva, 17, was shot for being in gang territory.

NORTH HOLLYWOOD — A 17-year-old high school student was shot and mortally wounded in his car, police said Sunday, when he unknowingly entered a street gang’s territory.

Andrew Villanueva of North Hollywood was “an innocent victim,” gunned down near the intersection of Cahuenga Boulevard and Whitnall Highway while on his way to a friend’s quinceanera-- a ceremonial 15th birthday party for Latinas, said Lt. Ron LaRue of the Los Angeles Police Department.

Villanueva was shot at 11:15 p.m. Saturday by a gang member firing from a white Range Rover, LaRue said.

Soon after police arrived on the scene, the Range Rover was spotted parked a few blocks away. The vehicle’s driver, Debra Ann Rakdahl, 30, of North Hollywood, was taken into custody and later arrested on suspicion of murder. Police believe she was driving the vehicle at the time of the shooting.

On Sunday afternoon, police arrested Ernest Martinez Luera, 22, at his Burbank home on suspicion of firing the shots at Villanueva. Evidence in Luera’s home and witnesses’ descriptions linked him to the crime, LaRue said, but the handgun that police believe was used in the shooting was not recovered.

At the time of the shooting, another teen-ager was in Villanueva’s car. Four other youths heading for the party followed in a second car. LaRue said that as the cars neared the intersection of Whitnall and Oxnard Street, gang members began shouting at them and one shot was fired, missing its mark.

Villanueva and his friends drove away, according to LaRue, then stopped their cars at Cahuenga and Whitnall to discuss the incident. The Range Rover then pulled up and Luera allegedly fired five to seven times, hitting Villanueva in the upper body, said Detective Mike Coffey. The gang members then fled, Coffey said.

At first, the passenger in Villanueva’s car thought he had merely passed out.

“We had no idea,” said the friend, who did not wish to be identified. “There was no blood or anything.”

Only later did Villanueva’s companions realize he had been hit by a bullet. They called 911 at a nearby liquor store. Villanueva was taken to Holy Cross Hospital in Mission Hills, where he was pronounced dead, Coffey said.

Residents of the neighborhood in which the shooting occurred said the area was home to a local gang. They pointed out graffiti marking the gang’s territory scrawled along the curbside.

Placido Villanueva, Andrew’s father, said he and his wife, Efigenia, were awakened at 2 a.m. by police, who told them that their son had been killed.

On Sunday afternoon, Villanueva’s family and friends gathered at the family’s house in a quiet neighborhood in North Hollywood. They described the teen-ager as a warm person who was popular at school and did not associate with gangs.

“He was a fun kid, always joking with his friends,” said Placido Villanueva. “He wanted to be an accountant. He never used drugs, no drinking, no smoking.”

“He was the most outgoing guy,” said Andrew Villanueva’s friend. “He made friends everywhere he went.”

Villanueva had a part-time job at a local bank, his father said, and enjoyed lifting weights and playing baseball. The boy and his father often wrestled for fun, Placido Villanueva said. His son, who stood a head taller, usually won.

The youth had been attending North Hollywood High School as a senior and had enrolled in a continuation high school in order to complete the credits needed for graduation, said the friend.

He was the oldest of three brothers and one sister. “I had four,” Placido said, close to tears, “now three.”