To Raven’s oldest sister, Brittany (not her real name, which she asked L.A.Weekly not to use for fear of retribution), their mother was a troubled stranger who kept popping into their lives. “The law was called on her so many times,” Brittany, 31, tells L.A.Weekly. “She just didn’t care for us. The only reason we knew she was alive [was when] the police would pick up [us] girls and call my grandmother.”
Raven was a typical little girl who loved dolls, anything pink and dressing up like a princess. All seemed well, despite the wreckage of her parents’ lives. Her grandfather died, then things changed forever in 2000, when the rock in her life, her grandmother, died.
She was just 8 years old, and at that tender age was about to begin a downward spiral that would never stop. “She went from loving pink and Disney stuff to not caring at all,” says Brittany. “It totally changed her.” Raven became reclusive and angry, and didn’t care much about anything. “She felt that she lost another mother.”
Westside meets Eastside: Dyan Cannon, in search of documentary subjects, visits with young homeless men on Hollywood Boulevard.
Her aunt and uncle took her in, but Raven proved to be a handful and things grew worse. She ended up a ward of the county, spending time in the Hollygrove Home for Children. The system failed her miserably: By 12, she was a chronic runaway, seeking out the streets at a time when most kids are in the seventh-grade. She tossed away her pink princess dresses for black gothic attire.
“We were always looking for her,” says Brittany. “We would find her and turn her in [to child services]. Then she would leave again.... I realized it didn’t matter what I do ... I didn’t want her to not talk to me at all. I saw that I was pushing her more and more away.”
The concrete sidewalks became Raven’s bed. Her daily routine included showering at a homeless teens’ drop-in center on Gower Street, the Teen Canteen, where she kept her stuff in a locker; hanging out at other facilities for the homeless and runaways on Hollywood Boulevard, like My Friend’s Place or the Salvation Army’s The Way In; and panhandling on one of her two favorite corners, Hollywood and Cahuenga or Hollywood and Vine.
She pulled in $20 to $30 a night on weekdays, from shocked pedestrians who got a good look at her youthful face. On Friday nights, she could make up to $50.
It probably helped that she was beautiful.
Regularly, Raven and a friend would get stoned together and go to the Metro subway station at Hollywood and Vine and “talk crap to the tourists and ask them for change, and if they didn’t give us money we would say, ‘fuck you,’” chuckles Kat Ybarra, Raven’s best friend for three of her four years on the streets.
In no time at all, young Raven was a prostitute. When Kat first met her, Raven had just escaped from a pimp who was forcing her to work the intersection of Sunset and La Brea. “She didn’t want to go to Sunset,” says Kat. “Every time I saw her, she would be afraid he would be looking for her.”
Raven, girl prostitute, was only a few miles from where she was raised, in her grandmother’s safe suburban apartment, but worlds away. She could not recall the story of her own birth, and was no longer sure of her real age. “I don’t think she really knew when her real birthday was,” says Kat. “Before she died, she said she was 16.”
And, again in no time at all, Raven picked up a debilitating meth habit.
“It was fun at first, when you’re high, because we had kick-ass times,” recalls Kat. “That’s what we thought was fun.”
Raven fell in love with a street kid named Jimmy, who, it turned out, was being captured on videotape for a documentary about Los Angeles teens being made by actress Dyan Cannon. Cannon, after 9/11, had been spurred by a conviction that it was possible for people of different ethnicities and religious faiths to get along. She wanted to chronicle kids from many walks of life over a period of years. In 2002, she canvassed high schools and the streets, auditioning kids, and found just the right mix.
Looking relaxed during a recent interview at the casually chic Fairfax District restaurant BLD, co-owned by a friend of hers, Cannon tells the Weekly that after scouring L.A., she ended up with eight “stars” — troubled and normal kids alike.
A couple of them were homeless, like Jimmy. Cannon, a longtime resident of Malibu, now perhaps best known as a high-profile Lakers fan often caught on camera sitting near the players during games, was always accompanied by a cameraman as she tracked the kids’ Dickensian lives for more than five years. The two would find kids huddled in cars to keep out of the rain, or, in the winter, snuggled close to chimneys atop Hollywood buildings to keep warm.
A profoundly moving story. Dyan is right, we have so many kids right here who need help. By the time they hit the streets it's pretty hard to place them unless they want change. Most of them simply can't go back into conventional homes so they stay on the streets. This story also illustrates that most of the people we are letting out of prisons on parole shouldn't be let out among the most vulnerable of us all.
it is a sad live and a big bad world out there what a sad storie the poor girl r i p baby girl xxx
This is so sad..I don't even know this baby..my heart is crying as I read..this.I'm a foster mother to young boys..love them..I wish we could have done something to save her..she is with god.. no more pain..
I miss you Raven you were the little sister I never had. I still think about you now, all the time, you are finally the angel that everyone who knew you always knew you were. I will forever miss you and your silly jokes and the love you gave to all of us. You will forever be in my heart.
This is such a sad story but enlightening i guess i can say. I learned of Aleesa(Raven)while watching 20/20 last night and decide to research @ Dyan Cannon which lead me to this L.A. Weekly story. I just wanted to find out more about Raven as a person. It just made me feel sad. She was young. Forgotten by some. She was an addict and she was a trapped and pained little girl. I think this story will always stick with me..Thank you @Christine Pelisek for this well written look into the life of someone who IS important(Real People).. I am looking forward to @Dyan Cannon (S) full documentary. Also a lesson for people to realize, We are ALL connected as human beings. We should always feel and show love and compassion to one another. Addict, protitute, or whatever, they are still people and they have family OR someone who loves them. Some didnt choose their situation knowingly, so i hope someone gets something positive from this.
I do miss her! I wish you you would of just given me that two weeks I asked for, before you pass. To get clean. I regret eveyday that I didn't just make you come home, and put you in school. I miss your sense of humor. I miss our talks. I miss you!
my 17 yr. old daughter chooses to live on the streets and it seems no matter what I do or who in this capital city of Sacramento thinks, She is my world... I worry without ceasing and pray the same that it doesn't take tragedy to bring her back home to me where she is safe and warm... God give all you kids on the street running from and to strength... oft at times it seems soo many people don't care but know that there are many that do... I am a mother who does... prayers be with You and God too!!!
With all respect to the story, this is as much about domestic [terrorism] violence than anything, though i found this article to be well-written and moving.
Good God does anybody take responsibility for contraception? You need a license for a dog, any fucken twat can have a baby, that poor kid & the millions around the world just like her.! As a broke single Mom reading that story horrifies me on soo many levels, I can't wait for my little girl to get out of school today so I can hold her close.
from an ex-street kid, to one that will remain beautiful and young forever, the pain is real, and sometimes you make it out. I did.. that could have been me, but now I am a mother, a wife, an educated woman. But those memories, are right there underneath. The streets of Hollywood mar forever... To Blackie, Kitty, Starr and Raven and so many others who never made it as far as I did... RIP.
I see not much has changed since the 60's in Hollywood. Sounds like the street scene I was intimately familiar with in the late 60's and the early 70's. I saw several similar tragedies back then when I used to hang out on Hollywood Blvd.
I can recall all too well living by my wits and wits alone at the same age as Raven. And although I was a male, looking back, being 13, 14, 15 without ever knowing which girlfriends - And I'm using the term 'girlfriend' in a charitable manner - girlfriend's home I'd be sleeping at if I slept at all was, in hindsight, a terrible tragedy. A recipe for nothing short of a disaster waiting to happen. How was it that Raven's parents allowed their child to live under such circumstances? Did they not worry about their daughter possibly being raped? Murdered? Both? Apparently not thus ending another story of a child who, with a bit of nurturing and non-glamourizing of 'da hood' lifestyle. Shame on both her mother, who in affect might as well have been a petri dish and her father - a pipette for all he was worth. Boooooo!
Sophie 01/12/2010 8:43:53 PM..your comment was stupid and deranged. i know you. you never met dyan. do you need an ego boost? you are a fake.. a pitifull nail tech that i worked with. i'm glad you were fired. none of us thought your stories about 'the comment sections' were very funny... we thought you needed help and we still do... get a life!
Hey I met Raven when she was 12. Its funny cuz we all thought she was like 16 or 17. She was so mature for her age. It all still seems unreal because Raven was the type who would disappear and rumors would spread that she had died but then she would just pop up and all our fears would be instantly relieved. I guess Im still waiting for her to reappear in so many ways. I wouldn't even be mad. I would just laugh it off. Man i miss her. I remember the last time i saw her it was the night before she died. I was waiting for the bus stop with her on Bronson and Hollywood Blvd. We were waiting for the 180 bus to glendale. Then the next day rumors spread that she had died. I couldn't believe it. I was like "naaaahhh. its just another rumor. I was just with her last night." My heart aches to even think about such young beauty taken away by a piece of s**t like the guy who killed her. She will truly be missed. I guess the satisfaction that i get is that #1: i had the honor and privilege to know and be close to such a remarkable girl and #2: that the scumbag who so nonchalantly took her away from us is serving 110 years for what he did. I hope he rots in hell. Raven...if only u could see how many people miss and love u now. Maybe...just maybe.....in some ways u already do. I love u girl. :-) (lol u always hated those smiley faces)
Wow, this really touched me so. Many years ago there was an teenager that run away from home and she was 15 years old. She came from out of state, where I didn't know. But she got involved with a young man, that used her and abuse her for sex. He didn't let her call her mother only when he said she can. But one day my 12 years old son, told me that she was across the street in the park. She was thrown out because she didn't want to have sex with this young man, anymore. So, it was raining bad, and she was getting wet. My son told me mom she's going to get sick or something bad is going to happen to her if she stay out there. Because we lived in a bad nieghborhood. Anyway, I felt so bad for her so, I decided to take her in, I am not that kind of person to let anyone come into my home. But she was 15 years old and hungry and homeless plus along. I took her in and talked to her to see why she left home. She told me that her mother remarried and she didn't get along with her stepdad. I ask her if her stepdad ever tried anything with her she said "no". She did tell me that she had regrets of leaving home and she wanted to go back, but her mother moved and she forgot the number her ex-boyfriend had it but he wouldn't give it to her. So, I confronted this young man and told him that if he didn't give her her mother's new telephone number, I will call the police on him. But the 15 years old girl didn't want any trouble. But I made it clear to the young man, again and this time. I wasn't so nice! So, he give up the number and she called her mom, I found these nice group of people to help with the tickets to get her home to her mom. Before she left I told her to finish school, and don't runaway! She told me she won't. Before she left I told her to give me a call, so I know she made it home safely. So she did.
To bad that Raven, didn't get the help when she first hit the streets, maybe her life would of ended differently.
This young lady led such a tragic life. But there are teens just like her in all the touristy places from NYC to TX and other parts of CA. Its sad that she yearned for love from ppl who did not love her (her mom and dad) and just used her as a pawn in their power struggle. Can u imagine being 12, scared, on the streets hungry and alone? I can! It could have happened to me. By the grace of God it just could have been me. My mother was a brutal drunk who threw me out of the house twice at age 11 and 12. I remember being forced to go to the store at age 11, in pitch darkness by myself. I could have been kidnapped, raped or killed, my mom didnt care. To this day, I am glad she is dead. I thank God I had a dad who care but he left me (died) when I was 14. My life took a downward spiral at that age, but I hung in there and graduated from high school and college. Praise be unto God Almighty.
RAVEN WAS AN AMAZING PERSON!!!! SHE WAS SMART, BEAUTIFUL AND THE PERFECT FRIEND. SHE WAS LOVED AND KNOWN BY EVERYONE!!! WE ALL LOVE AND MISS YOU RAVEN!!! R.I.P. RAVEN, JUNE 4, 2007!!!!!
I have to comment on the word "noir". This kind of glamorization of hollywood and californication and crime and the horrors of being a child growing up on the streets. Let's please try hard not to glamorize this tragic tragic life. Hollywood could take the forefront in this fight.
to raven: hey love, its coming up on three years since your death. i can't believe its been that long. i spent a long time wondering what i could have done, if not being there had a hand in your being ripped from our lives so early. do you remember when you couldn't talk to anyone but me, let anyone hold you but me? i can sometimes go for days without allowing the darkest thoughts to take over my mind, but, they always come back, one way or another. im finished being angry, but can't seem to hand out my forgiveness. i just wish everyone could have known you, loved you, laughed with you. yes, you were fiercely independent and strong, and no matter what people think they know, they never got the chance to see you through my eyes...what a pity. i wanted to tell you how sorry i am for not following through on the promise i made to you about rachel. i hope you can forgive me. your forever in my heart and on my shoulder. i love you always.
I wonder what the best and safest online forum (place to share), for young men/women like these might look like?
I'd love a mass survey of kids' beliefs, wishes, fears, etc.
Kids ROCK 4 EVER.
As someone who is temporarily relocated to Las Vegas to film a similar type of dcumentary (I'm based in LA), I can tell you that MANY of the people we film are willing to receive help but offering rehab isn't the way out for them because they ALWAYS refuse that at the beginning. Seems to me that Dyan (and I met her a few years ago when I dated a celebrity she knows well) was more concerned with getting them on tape than really helping. Taking her dogs with her was a very bad mistake. It only showed those kids how some dogs have what they don't have. How insensitive! It shows that Dyan, even after filming so much, is still out of touch with reality - these kids' daily reality. Her own priviledged life is in the way of getting the true story exposed here, I think. Although, maybe poor Raven died to teach her a valuable lesson. I hope it is learned.
In hopes this comment reaches the author of this well written article. I was a friend of Raven's, Kat knows me well. I want to know if her murderer was brought to justice, or if there is any update on that end of things. To all the people who wish to inflame or call names, or insult the street kids, You do not know us. I have luckily moved on, but I am one of the lucky ones. It is jerks like you that make people lose hope in the first place, and although the final decision is ours alone, it is seeing the lack of care that drives us closer towards that edge.
I recently went on a mission trip to Hollywood, where half of my group when to My Friend's Place and volunteered. That night one of the workers from there came and spoke to use about the horror of teen homelessness. She spoke of Raven. I would like to point out that she was not a prostitute, but yet she preformed survival sex. There is a difference between the two. Many of these teens have been through so much, and places like My Friend's Place are so amazing for these kids. They are a safe haven. While there are many daily programs that these people can go to, there are not many night programs, which leads to teens having survival sex. All of the people who speak badly of her should go and see what people go through. Many people think of Hollywood as a wonderful and fancy place, which I do not think is so. If you just walked down Skid Roe then your idea would change completely. This wonderful girl was murdered, and you can't do anything but spit on her memory. If you only knew what she went through and others like her are going through, I think you would hold you tongue. You will probably never quite grasp sleeping on the streets, not having a meal. Even though I never knew her, she is an inspiration to me, and to many others.
I think the article was very interesting, however, the author's descriptions of Raven were sparse. There was not one adjective written to let the reader imagine Raven's expressions, or her tone of voice, the color of her eyes or skin, or her overall demeanor. Other than the fact that she was cutting "on her arm," spoken in true street venacular, and that she dressed in Goth-black attire, we get a very limited mental picture of Raven. We also go from Raven being at a party with Joel Avelar Eliseo, to Raven - dead - in a bedspread.Did this poor little girl know her killer before encountering him on the way to that party with Joel? Did he coerce or threaten her into coming up to the room with him or did she go because of her hunger for more meth?
The main point, I am starting to think, is more about Dyan Cannon's documentary than it is about Raven's short, tragic life. This is still Hollywood, after all.
Lazy/shallow journalism, no better than a straight-to-video flick. I didn't know R., but deserves whole lot better. Some folks like straight-to-videos...
this is truee ![[�One of the reasons that I started to make this movie was to inspire and show people you don�t have to go to Africa or dark parts of any country to find horror stories, or kids that need help,� she says.
�The kids in our own backyard need help. Now the film has taken on a different perspective because, who knew? But I hope when kids see the movie, or when everybody sees the movie, it helps them to make choices about their life and how the wrong choice can have a ripple effect on so many.� ]]i really like this part !cause ppl never realize how dangerous EVERYWHERE is !i understand dat ppl can be like this but then going overboard nd ppl helping them they should realize that u jus gotta move on! nd think RIGHT!u CAN get ur life back on track; you gotta believe in it nd think about it well enough! life is not all about having it perfect; its about learning from it! god gave u this apportunity to see it; live it; nd have it! they say we all gotta 'survive' but relly you just gotta go along by doing da rite thing, it dnt last long. appreciate it..forreals!
yes raven was the greatest person but hey im was bothered by the way .last time i saw her was in hollywood she was waiting for the bus going to glendale yeah had shorthair/she will be missed?y it took a year to write it she died last year june 2007 RIP
Good article.
As a resident that passes these kids everyday (I live near Hollywood/Bronson) I can tell you that the shelters and services offered are both the savior and the lure for these kids. There's a reason they're in Hollywood - more access to foot traffic (money), more services (free clinics, several shelters), more access to drugs (for buying, trading, selling), and more people their age. Add in the fact that Hollywood is still one step from a slum in most parts, and that the other areas chase them away (Beverly Hills drives them straight to Hollywood), and you have tragedy in the making.
raven was a very good friend of mine im happy to see excellent journalism on her. i miss you raven but i will never forget you
I DID NOT LIKE HOW U WROTE ABOUT RAVEN U MADE SEEM LIKE SHE WAS BAD PERSON HOW U SAY SHE WAS PROSTITUTE :IT ALL COME S BACK 2 U I HOPE U LEARN FROM IT RAVEN WAS BEAUTIFUL AND SMART AND FUNNY LOVIN: SHE WASNT PERFECT SHE WAS CHILD GOD SAKES SHE MAY LOOKED OLDER.WE ARENT PERFECT IN THIS WORLD.
alyssa the best person i ever knew the person who has changed my life forever the bestest friend and so much more i luv u and will always be thinking about u no matter watrip:alyssa -
Its coming up on four years now and I still can not stop thinking about you. All I think about is all the special times we had and more that we could have enjoyed if we did not go our separate ways. I blame myself for being so selfish and letting you leave to spend nights in the cold, in the dark streets where there were so many people but deep down inside, I know you were all alone. Remember how I always wanted to be like you, you were so gifted, smart and talented and the most beautiful person seen through my eyes. I hated you, but I knew inside that hate was much strong because really it was love.Love from a little sister who wanted to be there because you hated to see me cry and you felt like you needed to be the strong one. Because of you I promise to succeed and never put my head down because this is what you have taught me. I love you Alyssa you are with me everywhere I am and I will never let you go. R.I.P Alyssa Gomez aka (Raven) June .4. 2007
Please consider using false names for the protection of the youth associated and trying to cope with street trauma? With fear of retribution prevalent in the adult sited in this article, why would the same courtesy not be shown to the youth; especially those who declined your interview? And I reference'Brittany (not her real name, which she asked L.A.Weekly not to use for fear of retribution)''Joel Avelar Eliseo (who, crying at the preliminary hearing for Raven�s alleged murderer, Gilton Pitre, later tearfully refused to talk to the Weekly)
I want to say that after reading everyone's wonderful and horrible comments to this article.....I think that the continuation of OUR silence about such systematic problems is was continues to keep this problem on our streets. If it means that I have "risked" stating my name, then so be it because if one steps forward...others will too.
TO Christine Pelisek,
I was Alyssa's CASA worker and new as a child from Hollygrove. After she initally ran away...I would go see her and meet with her at the corner Tommy's, to try and get her to turn herself in. I also found potential foster parents for her, but because of religious differences, they refused. I am a social worker and left my job recently to work with the homeless. I used to work for Homes for Life Foundation that house emancipated foster youth....but the real struggle is getting the system to change and get publicity. I inguired to the LAPD, City Council, etc...and no response. They said it is not my legal business.
Well I thank you for putting my mind to rest about her and others. There are so many others that I work/worked with in her situation and want to use Alyssa's life as a message to stop....her little sister mostly.
love Rene Frescas
I forgot to say that I have a song I wrote for her. She had a copy with her...A CD. I also met Jimmy and talk about how I wanted her to get back into the system and get her to sing!!!
This is a very important subject that needs our attention. Thank you for sharing this story with your readers. May she rest in peace.
I felt this story. I used to be one these kids back in the 80's and turned my entire world around. Does anyone know where she is buried?
raven was my little sister, not by blood but in every other way, my beat friend her death affected everyone, i am so thankful that her story is out for people to know becaues i only care abotu my boyfriend and baby more than her. R.I.P. raven youll forever be missed.
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