Brad Horn/Nevada Appeal
Friday afternoon as her teenage son's coffin was rolled before a crowded parish, Martha Angulo caressed the cloth draped over it and wept.
She wept for the boy she gave birth to in Carson City in 1992. She wept for the handsome man he was becoming. Friends called him strong, responsible, funny and loving. She wept because his life was snuffed out by an admitted gang member who claims he blacked out when he took a gun and put a bullet in Rene Angulo's head.
Martha wanted the world to know Rene's fate was not brought on by anything he had done.
"He was a good kid, a good brother, a good son," she said. "My son wasn't in trouble. I would know. I am his mother."
Dozens of friends and family crowded into St. Teresa of Avila Catholic Community on Friday and said goodbye to the 17 year old who went to look for a retail job on Mother's Day and never came home.
At 12:20 p.m. Sunday, video surveillance at El Pollo Loco on Highway 50 East captured Rene as he got into his 1990 Honda Accord alone. He went to have a bite to eat and to visit with his girlfriend Magaly Ramirez and sister-in-law Faviola Angulo, who both worked there. He told Magaly he was going to the store to buy shaving cream and he would be back at 4 p.m. to pick her up, she said.
At 12:35 p.m. emergency dispatchers received a call saying that two people had been shot in Washoe Valley. When police arrived, Rene was dead. He had been pulled from his vehicle and left on the side of the road.
Passerby Wayne Nash, a Carson High School assistant girls basketball coach, witnessed Rene's car swerve off the highway onto the shoulder. Thinking there was an accident, Nash pulled ahead of the Honda and got out of his car to offer help. Instead, as Angulo's body lay in the sand, the Honda sped back onto the road and raced past Nash.
Police say Steven Contreras was now behind the wheel.
Also known as Victor Rodriguez, Contreras allegedly fired at least one shot that struck Nash in his calf. Though he survived the shooting and was able to give police a description that led to Contreras' arrest, Nash's condition remains fragile.
Contreras was a convicted felon who re-entered the country after being deported after a 2005 conviction of accessory to murder.
Rosie Ramirez, an Angulo family friend said because of Contreras' sordid past and gang affiliation " and because of Rene's Hispanic surname " people automatically assume that Rene was involved in gangs.
He was not, she said.
"He was a 17 year old that did not deserve this," Ramirez said. "He comes from a good home and a good mom and dad. As far as I'm concerned he was a good kid. But I shouldn't have to defend him."
Katia Gonzalez, 13, and Francisco Angulo, 14, wearing shirts with Rene's name and picture on them, were eager to talk about their cousin who always made them laugh, and warned them against gang involvement.
Katia said Rene knew all about the gangs that were around. How could he not? The Angulos live in a largely Hispanic neighborhood that's also notorious for gang violence.
"He said stay away from them," Katia recalled as Francisco nodded in agreement. "He told us never to be in gangs."
Unlike gang members, sister-in-law Faviola said, Rene was always willing to pick up his 1-year-old niece from daycare and babysit her until her parents got home after he spent a full day at school.
Eight-year-old Alondra Angulo, Rene's sister, said her big brother always made her laugh. He would take her camping and fishing and to the carnival whenever it came to town, she said.
Janet De La O talked of Rene's work ethic. De La O, Rene's boss at Kentucky Fried Chicken two years ago, said Rene was eager for extra hours at work. And if she called him to fill in at 2:30 p.m. when he just got out of school, he would always come in.
"As a kid he was really responsible," she said. "I know he was a good kid."
Washoe County investigators have been unable to link Rene and Contreras other than in that deadly moment along the highway. According to Washoe County Sheriff's Capt. Dave Nikoley, Rene appears as much a random victim as Nash.
Rene's family all said they didn't recognize Contreras, whose mugshot was shown to them by investigators.
They said no one in their family knew the man whose allegiance to a gang called the Surenos was evident in his eyebrows that were shaved to symbolize the number 13 and a tattoo of lips on his neck that if viewed from an angle signified the same.
Martha Angulo wishes she never knew that "monster" existed.
"We don't want him to ever get out," she said. "We know that if he does he will do this to another family. We want him to stay in jail forever."