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Officer Mario Navidad, Jr. Mario Navidad Jr. and Ralph Mendoza attended the LAPD Police Academy together. They graduated and became police officers together on Sept. 9, 1995. After their graduation and probationary training, they were both assigned to the LAPD's Wilshire Division, and they rode together as partners in a patrol car.
A little more than a year later, when Navidad was shot to death by a 17-year-old robbery suspect, a gang member with a criminal record, it was Mendoza who returned fire, killing the suspect.
Navidad was born July 7, 1969, Santa Monica, Calif., the son of Saul and Magdalena Navidad, immigrants from Mexico.
While still in high school, 16-year-old Navidad started working at the Royal Market grocery store in Culver City, Calif., starting as a bagger and working his way up to cashier and clerk. Navidad worked full-time at Royal Market for 10 years, while also taking criminology classes at night at Santa Monica College, where he earned an administration of justice degree.
While working at Royal Market, Navidad played second base and batted leadoff for the store's softball team. When he wasn't working or playing softball, Navidad enjoyed watching boxing matches and following the career of Julio Cesar Chavez, whose roots stretch back to the same small town in Mexico where Navidad's parents grew up.
"Ever since I knew him, he wanted to be a police officer," said Teresa Webster, a fellow Royal Market employee. "That's all he talked about. That's all he wanted. ... He was going to school to study about the law and he was also working full-time."
In January 1992, Navidad, then 22, married his wife, Sandra Caro. By the end of the year, their first child, son Brandon, was born.
Now with a wife and young son, Navidad's primary responsibility was to provide for his family. His dream of becoming a police officer would have to wait, and he continued to work at the Royal Market to support his family.
Royal Market owner Marvin Sobel remembered Navidad as determined and ambitious, always a hard worker.
By 1995, Navidad quit his job at the Royal Market and he was finally able to pursue his dream, and he enrolled in the Police Academy. The Navidads' second child, daughter Melissa, was born in 1996.
After graduation, Navidad completed his probationary training at LAPD's Rampart Division before he joined the Wilshire Division in October 1996.
Also in October 1996, Navidad and his wife bought a home in Chino, Calif., about 35 miles east of Los Angeles.
On Sunday, Dec. 22, 1996, Navidad and Mendoza were riding together on the 3 p.m. to 3 a.m. shift out of the Wilshire Division. Shortly before 5 p.m., they received a call that the clerk at the 7-Eleven convenience store
A man had entered the convenience store, pointed a handgun at the clerk, and left carrying a six-pack of beer under each arm.
Navidad and Mendoza arrived quickly at the scene, and the clerk pointed out the direction where the robber had fled. Navidad and Mendoza found the suspect walking down an unlighted alley bordered by houses and apartments, around the corner from the convenience store, still carrying a six-pack of beer under each arm.
When he realized that a police car has stopped behind him, the suspect shifted both six-packs to under his left arm, reached into his pocket and pulled out his semi-automatic pistol, then quickly turned and fired at the officers -- "without warning and without explanation," according to the LAPD -- while the officers were still in their patrol car.
Navidad, who was sitting in the passenger seat of the car closest to the suspect, was hit six times before he could get out of the car, although he was able to return fire. The bullets passed through the unprotected side of Navidad's bullet-proof vest.
Mendoza jumped out from the driver's side of the patrol car, took cover behind the car, and returned fire, hitting the suspect.
The 17-year-old robbery suspect was declared dead at the scene. Navidad was put in one of the responding police cars, and his fellow officers performed CPR until they arrived at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, less than two miles away. Navidad died on the operating table.
"These calls, while they may seem minor or routine, can be the most dangerous," said LAPD Chief Willie L. Williams. "All that probably would have happened to the suspect is a fine. He probably would not even have gone to jail."
"This was a low-grade misdemeanor," said Capt. William Gartland, commanding officer of the LAPD's Robbery-Homicide Division.
In the alley at the scene of the shooting, flowers and candles were left for both Officer Navidad and his killer. Friends of the killer took some of the white carnations and other flowers that had been left for Navidad and placed them at the location where his killer died.
Navidad was survived by his widow and two children -- 6-year-old Brandon and 9-month-old Melissa -- and his parents.
Navidad's funeral services were held on Monday, Dec. 30, 1996, at the Church of St. Mark in Venice, Calif. -- the same small church where Navidad
"If one gives his life or her life to protect and serve, that person dies a martyr's death," the Rev. Michael McCullough said during the funeral Mass. "And he deserves a martyr's reward."
"One person picks up a gun to rob and kill; one picks up a gun to protect and serve," McCullough told the mourners. "Judgment we will leave to God."
Nearly 500 police officers, including LAPD officers from Redondo Beach to Simi Valley and throughout Southern California, black bands over their badges, led by LAPD Chief Williams, joined an estimated 200 family and friends at the Church of St. Mark in Venice, Calif., for Navidad's funeral services.
The mourners included family members, friends, neighbors, co-workers from Royal Market, and strangers who never met Navidad, but wanted to honor his service and his ultimate sacrifice. Seated in the front row was Navivad's widow, their 6-year-old son, and their 9-month-old daughter.
Navidad was killed three days before Christmas. His last name translates to "Christmas" in Spanish.
Officer Navidad was buried at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills.
His memorial sign is located at the southwest corner of Fairfax Avenue and Whitworth Drive.
A Guide to the Movie Stars' Final Homes
(July 7, 1969 -- Dec. 22, 1996)