WEBVTT - Ep. 1 Emmery 0:00:00.600 --> 0:00:09.320 We're on what March April me June, so we're going 0:00:09.440 --> 0:00:17.160 on the fourth month of quarantine of the pandemic. I'm 0:00:17.200 --> 0:00:20.680 an audio journalist and a few years ago I decided 0:00:20.720 --> 0:00:23.360 to do this assignment with some friends. It was a 0:00:23.440 --> 0:00:25.360 kind of assignment where we had to turn around a 0:00:25.400 --> 0:00:28.800 story in twenty four hours. We were talking on the phone, 0:00:28.880 --> 0:00:32.040 just spit bawling ideas and just overall talking about how 0:00:32.120 --> 0:00:35.760 we were feeling in twenty twenty. I was only recording 0:00:35.760 --> 0:00:38.600 my side of the conversation, so all you hear on 0:00:38.640 --> 0:00:42.680 the tape is me. And there's one thing I haven't 0:00:42.760 --> 0:00:50.000 done in so long that I completely miss and that's dancing. 0:00:50.560 --> 0:00:58.040 Like I have moved in this like grinding dancing way, 0:00:59.240 --> 0:01:01.400 which sounds really we were to say out loud, and 0:01:01.480 --> 0:01:04.680 then one of the people I'm talking to brought something 0:01:04.760 --> 0:01:08.280 up I had mentioned in passing about my time and 0:01:08.319 --> 0:01:11.960 a party crew. I haven't really talked a lot about it. 0:01:12.600 --> 0:01:14.720 When I do talk about it, it's usually like a 0:01:14.840 --> 0:01:16.240 ha ha, I was part of a part of this 0:01:16.319 --> 0:01:20.560 party crew, haha, Like you know, we had little signs 0:01:20.560 --> 0:01:23.880 and stuff like that, But it doesn't really ever get 0:01:23.959 --> 0:01:29.920 deep where I'm talking about how dangerous it was. When 0:01:29.920 --> 0:01:32.280 I was a teen in the mid two thousands, I 0:01:32.360 --> 0:01:35.160 was part of a party scene. A bunch of my 0:01:35.240 --> 0:01:38.480 girlfriends and I we formed a group and we called 0:01:38.480 --> 0:01:45.520 ourselves a party crew. The party crew scene was all 0:01:45.680 --> 0:01:50.080 underground parties. We were party in backyards and warehouses, setting 0:01:50.120 --> 0:01:53.600 up a dance floor wherever we could. And what made 0:01:53.640 --> 0:01:55.640 it unique is that it wasn't just me and my 0:01:55.720 --> 0:01:59.640 friends who were into this. There were hundreds, maybe thousands 0:01:59.720 --> 0:02:03.040 of mostly Latin X teens all across LA in the scene, 0:02:03.400 --> 0:02:07.480 in places like La South Central and the Sangiarbo Valley 0:02:08.000 --> 0:02:15.959 where I grew up. My parents are both from Peru. 0:02:16.680 --> 0:02:19.760 They came to the US in the mid eighties, and 0:02:19.880 --> 0:02:23.120 growing up we had some rules. As a student, my 0:02:23.200 --> 0:02:27.079 parents had high expectations of me, no bad grades, nothing 0:02:27.120 --> 0:02:30.120 below a bee. And when I started high school, I 0:02:30.200 --> 0:02:32.960 had a curfew. I had to be home by nine. 0:02:33.760 --> 0:02:36.640 I know, I know, those are typical rules for a 0:02:36.720 --> 0:02:40.320 lot of kids, especially for kids of immigrants, but when 0:02:40.320 --> 0:02:42.840 you're the oldest and the first in your family born 0:02:42.880 --> 0:02:47.880 in this country, the stakes automatically feel higher. And in 0:02:47.960 --> 0:02:50.880 my house it felt like there was this other extra layer. 0:02:51.639 --> 0:02:54.680 My mom is religious. She grew up evangelical as a 0:02:54.680 --> 0:02:57.960 teen in Peru, so when it was time to raise me, 0:02:58.720 --> 0:03:02.079 she raised me the only way she knew. Church every 0:03:02.080 --> 0:03:04.800 Sunday was a given, But there was also stuff like 0:03:05.000 --> 0:03:10.160 no dancing, no dating, no trigger treating on Halloween. It 0:03:10.240 --> 0:03:12.480 was a whole thing. But I knew that as long 0:03:12.520 --> 0:03:14.880 as I stayed out of trouble and followed the rules, 0:03:15.480 --> 0:03:18.519 I could fly by as your typical, good church, glowing 0:03:18.680 --> 0:03:24.400 daughter of immigrants. But when I found the party crew scene, 0:03:25.880 --> 0:03:27.799 I felt like I was able to become a new 0:03:27.880 --> 0:03:31.520 version of myself. It was the one place where I 0:03:31.560 --> 0:03:34.600 felt comfortable enough to move my body, let lose and 0:03:34.720 --> 0:03:40.000 be wild, free from my parents' rules and expectations. A 0:03:40.120 --> 0:03:46.400 safe space that was twenty years ago. And when I 0:03:46.440 --> 0:03:49.880 was talking to my friend about this time, I realized 0:03:49.960 --> 0:03:53.160 it was the first time in a long time that 0:03:53.280 --> 0:03:56.680 I talked about the party crew scene to someone who 0:03:56.800 --> 0:04:03.320 wasn't a part of it. Listening back to myself, I 0:04:03.360 --> 0:04:08.480 can hear a kind of hesitation in my voice, I guess, 0:04:09.200 --> 0:04:11.280 and I you know I was going through all that 0:04:11.360 --> 0:04:14.200 without telling my parents, like I wasn't telling them I 0:04:14.280 --> 0:04:16.000 was going to go see my friend who got shot. 0:04:16.040 --> 0:04:18.800 I wasn't telling them that I was doing all these things. 0:04:22.360 --> 0:04:25.400 It felt like I was sharing a hazy dream, these 0:04:25.440 --> 0:04:28.919 fragments of my past. It's not really a time in 0:04:28.960 --> 0:04:31.240 my life that I talk a lot about, because as 0:04:31.240 --> 0:04:34.160 fun as it was, there was also a dark side 0:04:34.200 --> 0:04:40.040 to the scene. It's a Saturday night house party and 0:04:40.160 --> 0:04:44.640 hont hedon park, strobe lights, color and evening of dancing, 0:04:46.560 --> 0:04:52.880 drinking and joke smoking. The intense, I say, is to 0:04:52.960 --> 0:04:55.280 have a good time, but the price for that good 0:04:55.320 --> 0:04:58.960 time can often be violent or even death. In an instance, 0:04:59.040 --> 0:05:02.200 a party scene can turn into a war zone. These 0:05:02.200 --> 0:05:05.440 were the parties that made headlines when something bad happened 0:05:06.200 --> 0:05:08.200 and it made us teens who were part of the 0:05:08.240 --> 0:05:11.479 party crews seem out of control. The people who throw 0:05:11.560 --> 0:05:14.760 these kind of parties are called party crews, but police 0:05:14.800 --> 0:05:18.960 say they're very similar to gangs. I ended up watching 0:05:19.000 --> 0:05:21.919 a bunch of old news coverage at the scene, and 0:05:22.000 --> 0:05:24.920 it was starting to relive those memories. It was a 0:05:24.920 --> 0:05:27.719 time and place I recognized, but it felt like it 0:05:27.800 --> 0:05:32.040 only caught one side of the story. An outsider's perspective. 0:05:32.520 --> 0:05:35.800 On January twenty fifth, two thousand and six, Emory Munious's 0:05:35.880 --> 0:05:39.640 lifeless body was found nearby this warehouse on Marosou and 0:05:39.760 --> 0:05:43.600 Olympic and Boyle Heights, a popular area for underground parties. 0:05:44.600 --> 0:05:46.520 And that's when I came across a story about a 0:05:46.560 --> 0:05:51.640 teen girl. Her name was Emory Munios. She was killed 0:05:51.680 --> 0:05:54.960 in two thousand and six and her case was never solved. 0:05:55.360 --> 0:05:58.120 Investigator say an I legal rave party was going on 0:05:58.200 --> 0:06:01.279 at the warehouse on Marosols for the night she was killed. 0:06:01.360 --> 0:06:04.840 The teenager was killed after tending one of those parties. 0:06:05.640 --> 0:06:08.120 She wasn't an all girl party crew like I was 0:06:08.839 --> 0:06:12.440 around the same time that I was going out. Her killing, 0:06:12.800 --> 0:06:15.880 they think she was strangled. Now tied to the world 0:06:15.880 --> 0:06:25.080 of illegal underground parties, learning about Emery immediately, it felt 0:06:25.120 --> 0:06:28.599 so personal to me. It was hard to hear about 0:06:28.600 --> 0:06:30.760 a teen girl who didn't make it out of the scene. 0:06:32.360 --> 0:06:35.360 She was only a few years younger than me, growing 0:06:35.440 --> 0:06:39.360 up a few cities away from me. I wondered, could 0:06:39.360 --> 0:06:44.039 I have bumped into her at a party. I kept 0:06:44.040 --> 0:06:46.760 thinking about her case. I couldn't get it out of 0:06:46.760 --> 0:06:49.920 my head, the idea that maybe it was pure luck 0:06:50.400 --> 0:06:53.240 that something didn't happen to me back then, and the 0:06:53.320 --> 0:06:56.760 fact that nearly two decades later, still nobody knew what 0:06:56.839 --> 0:07:00.200 really happened to her. I needed to find out more. 0:07:01.520 --> 0:07:04.960 So I started to dig into her story, and doing 0:07:05.040 --> 0:07:08.000 that would start me on a journey to unpack that 0:07:08.040 --> 0:07:13.440 time in my life. I joined a party crew of 0:07:13.520 --> 0:07:17.520 fifteen and now as an adult, I see it in 0:07:17.520 --> 0:07:21.280 a different light, and I want to know what does 0:07:21.280 --> 0:07:48.200 it mean when you're safe space isn't actually safe from 0:07:48.200 --> 0:07:53.640 ihearts Michael Slura, Podcast Network, Vice and Elia Studios. This 0:07:53.760 --> 0:07:57.880 is Party Crews, the Untold Story, a look back at 0:07:57.880 --> 0:08:00.600 the scene that I came of agent and an unsolved 0:08:00.680 --> 0:08:33.240 murder that is forever tied to it. I'm Jensemoka. I 0:08:33.320 --> 0:08:36.839 knew I needed to start somewhere to look into Emery's case, 0:08:37.840 --> 0:08:39.640 so I started looking for the names I found in 0:08:39.640 --> 0:08:46.360 the coverage around her murder. So I think we have 0:08:46.679 --> 0:08:51.160 found Jemios who is Emory's father? Um so let me 0:08:51.200 --> 0:09:12.800 give him a call. All uh Mari Muno, No no no, no, no? Okay, alkay, 0:09:12.800 --> 0:09:17.120 So I'm calling who I think could be Cherry, one 0:09:17.120 --> 0:09:21.640 of the heads of Vicious Ladies at that time. Okay, 0:09:21.679 --> 0:09:36.000 wish me luck. Sorry, And there is not enough to 0:09:42.679 --> 0:09:50.320 has been restricted or he is unavailable work. Let's try 0:09:50.960 --> 0:09:57.400 the last number that I have on this list. He 0:09:57.920 --> 0:10:03.600 thank yourself if you're missing. Hi, Becky, this is Janice Um. 0:10:03.640 --> 0:10:07.240 I'm a reporter producer with Fast News. I actually got 0:10:07.240 --> 0:10:11.080 your contact your number from Crystal. Still get nervous every 0:10:11.080 --> 0:10:13.680 time I really have a voicemail. For some reason, I 0:10:13.760 --> 0:10:27.800 look forward to speaking with you. Oh there's It took 0:10:27.840 --> 0:10:31.640 me months, but I found Emory's aunt, Becky Harrow and 0:10:31.720 --> 0:10:41.520 her sister Crystal Okay. After a few long conversations on 0:10:41.559 --> 0:10:44.720 the phone, they agree to meet me at a halfway point. 0:10:45.800 --> 0:10:48.800 We met inside a hotel in Pomona in a small 0:10:48.800 --> 0:10:51.360 conference room. I came with free water bottles and a 0:10:51.480 --> 0:10:56.680 jar of peppermints, a plus hospitality. Becky and Crystal were 0:10:56.760 --> 0:11:00.720 both warm and friendly. They're both batite with big brown eyes, 0:11:01.480 --> 0:11:03.520 just like Emory in the pictures I've seen of her. 0:11:04.600 --> 0:11:06.360 The three of us sat at the end of a 0:11:06.440 --> 0:11:10.280 long table and talked for hours, and I not only 0:11:10.320 --> 0:11:12.920 had it for a brief moment of time, but in 0:11:12.960 --> 0:11:15.560 those six years she'd taught me basically everything you would 0:11:15.600 --> 0:11:21.679 expect from a big sister. That's Crystal she was six 0:11:21.960 --> 0:11:25.400 when her sister went missing. I learned that Emery was 0:11:25.440 --> 0:11:31.120 the oldest of three siblings, one brother and one little sister, Crystal. 0:11:31.640 --> 0:11:35.760 I had my bodyguard it. What weighs did she protect? You? Gone? 0:11:35.800 --> 0:11:39.480 Every way imaginable. Um. One thing I really remember is 0:11:39.520 --> 0:11:41.000 my mom would always yell at me because I was 0:11:41.040 --> 0:11:44.000 a little brown and knows a little and my sister 0:11:44.080 --> 0:11:46.559 she would just jump in ya, my sister, do ya? 0:11:46.679 --> 0:11:48.640 My sister or my brother would try to plunk on me. 0:11:49.040 --> 0:11:52.120 She would end up like punking on him. Every way, 0:11:52.160 --> 0:11:56.079 anything that I wanted she got for meum, toys, candies, 0:11:56.320 --> 0:11:59.720 whatever it was she would get from me. Our mom 0:11:59.760 --> 0:12:02.800 was always, you know, mentally there. She was physically there, 0:12:02.800 --> 0:12:05.640 she wasn't always mentally there. So my sister took on 0:12:05.679 --> 0:12:08.480 a very big role and she was always making sure 0:12:08.520 --> 0:12:12.000 I was fed, bathed, clothed, everything. She took care of me. 0:12:13.559 --> 0:12:16.360 I'm the eldest kid in my family too, so I 0:12:16.440 --> 0:12:20.280 know it comes with a lot of responsibility. Emory's mom's 0:12:20.360 --> 0:12:24.360 family is Mexican American. They're an immigrant households like mine. 0:12:25.400 --> 0:12:28.319 As a teen, sometimes you take for granted how much 0:12:28.360 --> 0:12:32.000 influence you have of your siblings how a small gesture 0:12:32.160 --> 0:12:36.839 can create a lasting impact. They used to go take 0:12:36.880 --> 0:12:41.400 like those two thousand pictures, the star shots. Yeah yeah, 0:12:41.559 --> 0:12:43.439 actually I found one on my phone mother day. I 0:12:43.520 --> 0:12:45.959 me an Emory one. I think I was like four. 0:12:46.720 --> 0:12:51.319 She had to be like twelve THIRTYO star shots, or 0:12:51.440 --> 0:12:54.000 like these wallet sized pictures you would take with your 0:12:54.000 --> 0:12:57.600 best friend, your boyfriend, or your little sister. You would 0:12:57.640 --> 0:13:00.680 show up with your freshly plucked brows and best glossy 0:13:00.760 --> 0:13:03.959 lip to a small photo studio inside the mall, posed 0:13:03.960 --> 0:13:06.720 in front of an airbrushed backdrop and wait for like 0:13:06.760 --> 0:13:10.600 an hour to get your pictures printed. Very nineties, very 0:13:10.640 --> 0:13:14.559 two thousands. One of Crystal's few mementos of her sister 0:13:14.640 --> 0:13:18.120 Emory is a star shot they took together. That's the 0:13:18.160 --> 0:13:20.880 background of the one that you are. It's like blue 0:13:20.880 --> 0:13:24.959 with stars and stairs. I love it. They're gonna show you. 0:13:25.040 --> 0:13:29.280 Oh my god, let's describe it. Describe it for me. 0:13:30.960 --> 0:13:35.120 So there's a there's a blue background, there's stairs, and 0:13:35.160 --> 0:13:38.840 we're supposed to be sitting on the stairs. My sister, 0:13:38.920 --> 0:13:40.640 I think, was going through an eyebrow crisis at this 0:13:40.840 --> 0:13:42.880 time and got a little too card away with the Tweezers, 0:13:44.360 --> 0:13:48.560 and she had on a white shirt um kind of 0:13:48.559 --> 0:13:52.280 like the three fourth quarters um sleeve in the picture 0:13:52.559 --> 0:13:55.839 Emory House. Her long brown hair pulled back, half up, 0:13:55.880 --> 0:13:59.440 half down, and her mouth is closed with a soft smile. 0:14:00.160 --> 0:14:02.800 It's like her signature smile. I've seen it in a 0:14:02.880 --> 0:14:05.839 lot of pictures of her as a teen. She's holding me, 0:14:05.880 --> 0:14:08.920 she's hugging me. I was I think four right here. 0:14:09.400 --> 0:14:11.920 I have on a blue little sweater that has fluff 0:14:11.960 --> 0:14:14.520 around the neck. Because two thousands baby in the prime. 0:14:17.160 --> 0:14:20.440 Back then, star shots brought friendships and relationships to a 0:14:20.480 --> 0:14:23.200 new level. I met, you were close, and the world 0:14:23.280 --> 0:14:25.920 was going to see it. That was our very first picture. 0:14:27.240 --> 0:14:29.840 I don't remember that day, but I feel super connected 0:14:29.880 --> 0:14:36.640 to the day. Crystal was in her early twenties, and 0:14:36.920 --> 0:14:39.760 every story she shared her her sister peeled back a 0:14:39.840 --> 0:14:42.880 layer of emory that I couldn't find in the news coverage. 0:14:43.200 --> 0:14:46.760 She was always dancing, no matter what the song was, 0:14:46.800 --> 0:14:49.800 she was always dancing, and I remember she would try 0:14:49.840 --> 0:14:51.320 to teach me and I was just right there like 0:14:51.320 --> 0:14:52.880 a little four year old, didn't know what the heck 0:14:52.920 --> 0:14:55.680 I was doing. Crystal shared one of her earliest memories 0:14:55.680 --> 0:14:58.040 of Emory growing up in their home on one of 0:14:58.120 --> 0:15:01.440 the highest hills in city terror Us. I think we 0:15:01.600 --> 0:15:04.800 lived at the top of the highest hill because we 0:15:04.880 --> 0:15:07.800 lived on three and so we lived right on the top. 0:15:08.080 --> 0:15:10.240 But I remembers dancing like outside. We had like the 0:15:10.280 --> 0:15:13.000 biggest like garden ever, a bunch of grass, a bunch 0:15:13.000 --> 0:15:19.360 of flowers. We could just be dancing, and she loved dancing. 0:15:19.920 --> 0:15:25.880 That's Becky Harrow, Emrie's aunt and godmother, her Nina. That summer, 0:15:25.920 --> 0:15:30.040 I wrote a letter to the family, including Emory's mother Maria, 0:15:30.120 --> 0:15:33.400 but she didn't respond to us at first. However, her 0:15:33.440 --> 0:15:36.160 sister Becky, who over the years has been sort of 0:15:36.160 --> 0:15:39.960 a spokesperson for the family regarding Emory's case, she did 0:15:40.000 --> 0:15:43.040 get back to us. She let her sister know that 0:15:43.120 --> 0:15:45.240 she was talking to us. Used to tell me I 0:15:45.360 --> 0:15:48.640 was like her second mom. Becky tells me Emory was 0:15:48.680 --> 0:15:52.320 her informal dance coach. She actually told me to lift feet. 0:15:53.160 --> 0:15:57.080 I remember her say, well, you're gonna do dance like 0:15:57.240 --> 0:16:02.080 the sister Tecas that one make it look sexy because 0:16:02.160 --> 0:16:03.800 you had to spread them a little bit and move 0:16:03.840 --> 0:16:06.960 your hips side to side, and she will go behind me. 0:16:07.040 --> 0:16:10.280 I will be cooking or doing something, and then she said, aw, 0:16:10.320 --> 0:16:13.120 you're practicing your hips. And I just look at her 0:16:13.120 --> 0:16:15.040 and laugh. And then she will go behind me and 0:16:15.080 --> 0:16:18.440 then she will move my hips. She will start cracking up. 0:16:18.640 --> 0:16:21.040 She said that I was like a stick it because 0:16:21.040 --> 0:16:25.880 you need to like relax, you go relax both those hips. 0:16:29.000 --> 0:16:33.000 Emory with her family was playful. She felt comfortable enough 0:16:33.040 --> 0:16:36.120 to let loose and be silly. The last time I 0:16:36.120 --> 0:16:40.000 saw her was Christmas Day and I just remember her 0:16:40.000 --> 0:16:43.760 going by, Nina, see you later, and I said, by sweetie, 0:16:43.800 --> 0:16:49.360 and she flew a kiss, a kiss, and that's my 0:16:49.480 --> 0:16:56.160 last memory. And I can still see it here. It's 0:16:56.200 --> 0:16:58.320 a matter of fact. She'd want me a little note 0:16:58.400 --> 0:17:02.320 that day before I went home. This this is a 0:17:02.440 --> 0:17:05.200 piece of favor for anybody, but it's tressure for me. 0:17:05.840 --> 0:17:08.240 Becky pulls out a little blue post it note that 0:17:08.320 --> 0:17:11.440 she's been carrying with her for over a decade. Am 0:17:11.440 --> 0:17:16.440 I reading it to me to Minina in Uncle Ron, 0:17:16.880 --> 0:17:21.600 Merry Christmas. I love you guys with all my heart, Emory. 0:17:24.359 --> 0:17:29.560 That was the last time Becky saw her. To learn 0:17:29.640 --> 0:17:32.840 more about Emory's last days, I talked to the friends 0:17:32.880 --> 0:18:01.120 she was with before she went missing. That's after the break. Hello. 0:18:01.520 --> 0:18:07.520 Hi Alejandra. This is Alejandra. She was one of Emory's 0:18:07.560 --> 0:18:10.199 friends in high school. Hi is this Janice. We have 0:18:10.280 --> 0:18:13.520 some time to talk right now? Yeah? I do. I 0:18:13.640 --> 0:18:15.399 just if I talk a bit as though. It's just 0:18:15.400 --> 0:18:18.040 because I got my wisdom taken out this morning. Oh 0:18:18.080 --> 0:18:21.439 my god. Yeah, but I'm okay to talk. Thank you 0:18:21.440 --> 0:18:24.200 for talking to me. Well, well, you're a little swollen. 0:18:24.240 --> 0:18:26.400 I had mine taken out like years ago, and I 0:18:26.480 --> 0:18:31.720 was like chipmunk cheeks forever. Yeah. Oh, I am right now, 0:18:31.720 --> 0:18:36.560 but this will distract me. After our initial phone call, 0:18:36.840 --> 0:18:39.000 I met up with Alejandra and her family home in 0:18:39.040 --> 0:18:42.199 Bell Gardens, a few miles from where she grew up. 0:18:42.600 --> 0:18:44.639 I grew up in East Lake, so that's how I 0:18:44.640 --> 0:18:47.560 met Emory. I was there up until I was fifteen, 0:18:47.880 --> 0:18:50.200 and one of the reasons why we moved is because 0:18:50.240 --> 0:18:53.119 of what happened with Emory. It took a minute for 0:18:53.200 --> 0:18:56.320 Emory and Alejandra to get close. He said he didn't 0:18:56.320 --> 0:18:58.840 get along at the beginning. Well she didn't like me, 0:18:59.480 --> 0:19:03.560 she yeah, she didn't mike me. She was so she 0:19:03.640 --> 0:19:05.920 was safe. In the fall of two thousand and five. 0:19:06.440 --> 0:19:10.240 She and Emory were the new kids together freshman at 0:19:10.240 --> 0:19:13.480 Francisco Bravo High School. I don't know why she didn't 0:19:13.520 --> 0:19:15.760 like me, but we had a pe class and home 0:19:15.840 --> 0:19:18.919 room together, and she had a group of friends and 0:19:18.960 --> 0:19:21.840 I had my group of friends. And you know, I 0:19:21.840 --> 0:19:24.480 would hear things like, oh, she's talking shit about you, 0:19:24.600 --> 0:19:27.440 or she said this, she said that. So one day 0:19:28.520 --> 0:19:31.359 after school, she was standing outside outside the school and 0:19:31.400 --> 0:19:32.880 I came up to her and I was like, hey, 0:19:33.000 --> 0:19:34.919 you know, why are you talking shit? And then she's like, 0:19:34.960 --> 0:19:36.960 do you want to walk home while we talk about it? 0:19:37.000 --> 0:19:39.320 And I was like, yeah, sure. Emory was on her 0:19:39.359 --> 0:19:42.399 way to a football game at Wilson High School, a 0:19:42.560 --> 0:19:46.000 rival high school in East LA, so she invited me. 0:19:46.400 --> 0:19:49.760 It just happened so fast, and that was it. They 0:19:49.800 --> 0:20:01.399 became friends. That followed to the five It was a 0:20:01.480 --> 0:20:08.240 Lejandra and Emory together all the time, every day after school. 0:20:08.560 --> 0:20:10.400 I don't know why that memory always comes to my mind, 0:20:10.400 --> 0:20:14.359 but I remember, like, um, the smell of Halloween during 0:20:14.840 --> 0:20:17.640 like during those years. I don't know why. I can't 0:20:17.680 --> 0:20:19.480 describe it, but every time I go outside, I'm like, 0:20:19.480 --> 0:20:21.399 oh my god, it smells like you still or smells 0:20:21.400 --> 0:20:24.719 like Halloween. I personally loved Easta like you know. My 0:20:24.800 --> 0:20:27.840 parents didn't, um. They thought it was pretty dangerous. But 0:20:28.280 --> 0:20:30.760 we had all our friends living in the area, so 0:20:30.800 --> 0:20:34.800 we could walk to each other's house. Emory lived pretty 0:20:34.840 --> 0:20:37.119 far from me, but we would still do the walk 0:20:37.200 --> 0:20:39.440 like we would. Um. I don't know if we knew 0:20:39.440 --> 0:20:42.240 where she lived, but I lived cy Terrorists, that city terrists, 0:20:42.240 --> 0:20:44.720 and I lived like in Boyle Heights. So but we 0:20:44.720 --> 0:20:50.800 would walk over to each other's house. Yeah, no, no, 0:20:50.960 --> 0:20:54.679 we would. I would run because my parents didn't know 0:20:54.720 --> 0:20:56.000 where I was at, so I would be like, oh, 0:20:56.000 --> 0:20:57.600 I'm gonna go with my friend down the street, but 0:20:57.640 --> 0:21:03.520 really I would walk all the way over there. How 0:21:03.520 --> 0:21:08.160 would you describe her personality? Just very happy, very bubbly, 0:21:08.400 --> 0:21:11.360 and she was so silly, like she would always try 0:21:11.359 --> 0:21:16.080 to make jokes. She loved singing and dancing. She loved 0:21:16.119 --> 0:21:19.640 Mariah Carey, so I remember her always singing and writing 0:21:19.640 --> 0:21:22.840 the lyrics down. And one of the things I remember 0:21:22.880 --> 0:21:27.040 the most is her laugh like it was just so conpegious. 0:21:28.359 --> 0:21:32.040 She would crack up every single time. Alejandra and Emrie 0:21:32.080 --> 0:21:34.640 wrote letters to each other and left them in each 0:21:34.640 --> 0:21:40.160 other's lockers. They wrote about boys, their day, anything and everything, 0:21:40.800 --> 0:21:43.840 and when they hung out, they danced around their rooms 0:21:43.880 --> 0:21:47.840 and listened to Mariah Carey's entire catalog. I can only 0:21:47.880 --> 0:21:56.679 imagine them harmonizing too. We belong together. There was a 0:21:56.680 --> 0:21:59.240 few people that, like I said, she would be silly with. 0:21:59.440 --> 0:22:02.960 She would around with, but if you don't really know her, 0:22:03.080 --> 0:22:06.199 she wouldn't make the effort to really talk to you. 0:22:06.320 --> 0:22:09.360 And I think that's why a lot of girls used 0:22:09.359 --> 0:22:12.639 to think she was conceited or you know, try to 0:22:12.680 --> 0:22:16.960 fight her, because they didn't really know her. She was 0:22:17.000 --> 0:22:18.520 in her own little world, like she was serious, she 0:22:18.520 --> 0:22:20.800 didn't care what other people thought. You know, she wasn't 0:22:20.840 --> 0:22:26.320 trying to be everyone's friend. There's just times where girls 0:22:26.320 --> 0:22:30.280 would talk shit and she would get crazy. You know. 0:22:30.720 --> 0:22:33.800 One time we were at a fair and she had 0:22:33.840 --> 0:22:37.920 this boyfriend and I guess he was with another girl 0:22:37.920 --> 0:22:42.200 at the fair or something like that. So we actually 0:22:43.000 --> 0:22:45.720 left the fair and then she was like, oh, let's 0:22:45.720 --> 0:22:48.399 pass by, you know, let's pass by his house. And 0:22:48.480 --> 0:22:50.240 at the same time we saw them going in, the 0:22:50.359 --> 0:22:52.760 girl and him and she got out of the car 0:22:52.840 --> 0:22:55.080 and she was just trying to fight her and just 0:22:55.119 --> 0:23:00.359 get crazy. I think we're just like figure bring it 0:23:00.359 --> 0:23:04.080 out kids in ours, like your whole world revolved around Yeah, 0:23:04.119 --> 0:23:06.840 that guy. Sometimes I was so in love with him. Yeah, 0:23:06.960 --> 0:23:12.359 she loved him, But were you like, you know, I 0:23:12.359 --> 0:23:15.280 didn't really know him. I've seen him a few times, 0:23:15.359 --> 0:23:19.080 but he just wasn't someone I wanted to talk to 0:23:19.200 --> 0:23:21.480 or you know, be cool with. And and she had 0:23:21.520 --> 0:23:27.000 her own group of friends. Did you ever tell any 0:23:27.280 --> 0:23:30.000 the parties with Emory? No. My mom would have never 0:23:30.160 --> 0:23:32.800 let me go. So that's why I'm telling you. Like 0:23:32.800 --> 0:23:34.760 she would tell me like, oh, I'm gonna go to party. 0:23:34.800 --> 0:23:36.320 Do you want to go? But she always knew that 0:23:36.440 --> 0:23:39.760 I was I wasn't gonna go. Um, so yeah, I 0:23:39.800 --> 0:23:42.240 would just see the pictures. Does she like invite you 0:23:42.280 --> 0:23:44.520 before she goes. Yeah. Yeah, she would let me know 0:23:44.720 --> 0:23:46.119 or she would be like she would be like, oh, 0:23:46.119 --> 0:23:48.280 come on, we'll tell your mom this or that, you know, 0:23:48.359 --> 0:23:51.320 and I'm like, that's not gonna that's not gonna work. 0:23:51.320 --> 0:23:57.600 I was so scared. Our parents thought we were going 0:23:57.680 --> 0:24:03.560 to because we would album. This is Regina Barenian. She 0:24:03.640 --> 0:24:06.680 knew Emery from the party crew scene, but they also 0:24:06.760 --> 0:24:11.280 went way back. Was a childhood friends of mind, growing 0:24:11.359 --> 0:24:14.560 up since kindergarten, Like some of the first thing I've 0:24:14.600 --> 0:24:17.600 ever experienced were with her, you know, when we went 0:24:17.640 --> 0:24:20.239 on our first field trip in school, when we had 0:24:20.240 --> 0:24:24.479 our first crushes, our school gaps and stuff. She was smart, 0:24:24.840 --> 0:24:28.560 she didn't kick any ship. She super SAFTI, she land 0:24:28.840 --> 0:24:33.000 and everybody liked her. Our mothers were friends when they 0:24:33.000 --> 0:24:36.480 were kids. I've known her a very long time. We've 0:24:36.480 --> 0:24:40.560 been bonded through our lineage. She lived down the street 0:24:40.600 --> 0:24:43.920 from Emory in City Terrorists. Their mothers were friends when 0:24:43.920 --> 0:24:45.880 they were growing up. We started to go to slow 0:24:45.920 --> 0:24:48.720 together and then we became really close friends. There was 0:24:48.760 --> 0:24:54.560 five of us Me, Emery, Diane, Cynthia and Ashley, so 0:24:54.600 --> 0:24:56.960 we were able to have a certain kind of freedom 0:24:57.000 --> 0:25:00.520 that other kids didn't have. I mean mom and my 0:25:00.560 --> 0:25:03.879 mom lived the same life. Sound Me and Amory became 0:25:03.960 --> 0:25:07.399 friends because we're able to bond over the same disconnecting 0:25:07.480 --> 0:25:10.679 that we've had with our mothers. Regina is in her 0:25:10.720 --> 0:25:13.560 thirties now and she no longer lives in City Terrace. 0:25:14.520 --> 0:25:17.000 She was very straight up with me about that time. 0:25:17.800 --> 0:25:21.560 Now when I looked back, like I have an eleven 0:25:21.600 --> 0:25:25.120 year old daughter right now. And when I was her age, 0:25:25.920 --> 0:25:30.600 I had already smoked weed for the first time. I 0:25:30.640 --> 0:25:33.240 was walking home from school already, like I would never 0:25:33.320 --> 0:25:40.480 let her do any of that. Along with a bunch 0:25:40.480 --> 0:25:43.639 of neighborhood girls, Regina was in a party crew called 0:25:44.040 --> 0:25:47.520 Tempted to Touch. It was fun because I felt like 0:25:47.560 --> 0:25:52.440 at that time we were experimenting and nobody was violating 0:25:52.480 --> 0:25:55.040 one another. We all made sure we got home one time, 0:25:55.240 --> 0:25:59.679 all looked up for one another. This was the community 0:25:59.720 --> 0:26:02.920 thing within the inner city communities that we different because 0:26:02.960 --> 0:26:05.840 a lot of people it was part of the culture. 0:26:06.400 --> 0:26:09.359 Regina explained to me how she understands the context of 0:26:09.400 --> 0:26:15.719 the party crew scene. And you know, it evolved from 0:26:15.960 --> 0:26:20.119 the nineties to two top by having back their bookies, 0:26:20.520 --> 0:26:23.239 and then we were the new generation, most of these 0:26:23.320 --> 0:26:26.639 kids that are partying and two thousand and one to 0:26:26.760 --> 0:26:30.240 two thousand and six, we're the fucking tiers of these 0:26:30.320 --> 0:26:34.680 teen moms from the nineties, like you know, So I 0:26:34.720 --> 0:26:38.920 think that should be highlighted because people have a lot understanding. 0:26:41.880 --> 0:26:45.159 A few months before Emory died, Regina and Emory had 0:26:45.160 --> 0:26:49.000 a falling out. Emory had been hanging out with new friends, 0:26:49.240 --> 0:26:52.280 the Girls and the Vicious Ladies Crew, and there was 0:26:52.320 --> 0:26:57.200 some teaen drama, but their family connection ultimately kept their bond. 0:26:57.520 --> 0:26:59.320 My mom made me say sorry to her after she 0:26:59.400 --> 0:27:02.520 found out what had happened, because you know, she's like, 0:27:02.600 --> 0:27:04.560