Remembering Angel: School raises money for boy killed on minibike

The piped-in music, aroma of frying meat and the smiles of people seeing each other again at Equipo Academy in east Las Vegas on Saturday distracted from what might otherwise be a solemn occasion as the school community gathered to remember one of its former students.

The school held a kermes fundraiser — a traditional Mexican festival and pot luck sale of homemade dishes, desserts and drinks — to honor Angel Naranjo, who was killed July 30 when he drove his minibike into a steel cable that was stretched over a bike trail on the Las Vegas Wash trail near the intersection of Pecos Road and East Lake Mead Boulevard.

The 16-year-old boy was riding with his 19-year-old brother, who was on a second minibike behind him, when his neck struck the cable, killing him at the scene.

The Metropolitan Police Department and the Clark County coroner’s office are investigating. There was no new information available Saturday, according to Metro police spokesman Lt. Isaac Auten.

At Equipo’s auditorium Saturday, sales of $2 tickets sold at the door and used to buy the food and drinks will go to a fund for the boy’s parents as they wait to hold his funeral, according to Rosa Garcia, the school’s dean of families.

There were tables selling chocoflan (chocolate cake with caramel custard), fresas con crema (strawberries and cream), tostilocos (pickled pork rinds and peanuts poured over chips), nachos, tacos, burritos, chicken chimichangas and Mexican drinks such as horchata and hibiscus tea.

Amid the tables selling refreshments, one served as a memorial to Naranjo, decorated with lighted glass religious candles, fresh flowers, helium balloons and photos of the teen in good times, alone and with friends.

“I think it was very unfortunate what happened to him,” said Gabriel Bautista, 18, who graduated from Equipo last year. “I know it upset my family a lot. But I’m glad everyone’s coming together to raise funds for his services.”

“He was a very caring person, like when someone gets a little picked on, like he’d usually help him out,” said Sonny Rascon, 15, a former classmate of the boy who is set to start the 10th grade, the same grade Naranjo would have entered this week.

‘I got you’

Members of the staff at the school have distinct memories of Naranjo as an outgoing person who was maturing and evolving.

Catalina Garcia, 20, an Equipo graduate employed in the school’s discipline department with the dean of students, encountered him quite often at her office.

“He would come through the door sometimes, and even if he wasn’t having a good day and you could note it in his face, he never, ever did not say, ‘Good morning, have a good day, miss,’” she said.

Everybody knew Angel, she said, describing him as “a really good kid.”

“Just him passing away is a little bit, you know, hard, because he had plans. He was really interested in mechanical stuff, like engines, motorcycles, building stuff,” she added.

Anna Parra, the dean of students, said that when she needed a pupil to volunteer to show a new kid around the school or sit with them at lunch, Angel was enthusiastic about doing it.

“Angel would always say, ‘I got you,’” Parra said. “He was very friendly, very positive. He’s someone who, when he made a mistake, he would right away own up to it and say, ‘I’m sorry, I’m going to do better.’”

Parra remembered him as a bright soul, who was so happy at the end of the last school year because he passed all his classes.

“And I remember him showing his adviser, myself and anybody, like, ‘I did it, I’m gonna go up to the next grade,’” she said. “So I was just really happy for him.”

A team comes together

Ben Salkowe, the principal at the school — which refers to its 850-member student body as a “team” — said they decided the festival-style celebration was the right way to both honor the boy and help his grieving parents.

“So, the team throughout this week was thinking of ways to help so that the family could have a service that was going to be a real tribute to Angel, and this was one of the things that the parents and the kids and the staff were all excited to do for them,” Salkowe said.

On Sunday, Equipo Academy will hold a car wash at 4131 E. Bonanza Road from 7 a.m. to noon to raise additional money. A car wash sponsored by the Las Vegas-based firm Byond Details, is also set for Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. at the parking lot at 3485 S. Rainbow Blvd.

Naranjo had a big heart, the principal recalled of the teen.

“He was a student who was really working hard to get everything that all of our students are doing,” Salkowe said. “He was here early, he was here late. He was here on Saturdays, and he grew a lot. And I think that’s hard for the team, because his story feels like a pretty unfinished story.”

The state-regulated public college prep charter school, not part of the Clark County School District, was founded by teachers and families in 2015. Each student must receive at least one college acceptance letter to graduate, Salkowe said.

“And so that’s why it hurts more when something happens to one of us, but it’s also why everybody’s here to help,” he said.

Contact Jeff Burbank at jburbank@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0382. Follow him @JeffBurbank2 on Twitter.