Christina Darlene Calderon, 23, was walking down Hollywood's Walk of Fame on Tuesday with a co-worker when she photographed an expletive laden sign held by men asking for money that she found amusing, when one of the men stabbed her after she refused to pay him a dollar for the photograph, according to the Los Angeles Times.
After she snapped the photograph, one of the men jumped up, demanding Calderon pay him a dollar. She refused, and according to police, that's when two of the men allegedly pinned Calderon's co-worker against a wall. A third man jumped on top of Calderon, knocking her onto the pavement in front of the American Eagle Outfitters store on Hollywood Boulevard at the intersection of Highland Avenue.
When Calderon stood up to run away, there was blood pouring out of a stab wound in her abdomen, according to authorities. She collapsed a few feet away and was rushed to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center where she was pronounced dead three hours later.
Her death was shocking to both visitors and the merchants than run up and down Hollywood Boulevard, as it occurred in the heart of the Hollywood tourist district.
The police detained two of the men near the crime scene at midnight and arrested a third man later on suspicion of murder. The police described the three men, who were between the ages of 27 to 34 years old, as transients.
One of the men was known to frequent the Hollywood area, according to police, while the other two are thought to have come from out of state.
Family members said that Calderon knew the Hollywood area and sometimes spent time there with friends. Her mother, Yolonde Tassin, thought something was wrong when Calderon didn't respond to her texts. When detectives arrived at her door, she knew.
"I said, 'My daughter's dead, isn't she?'" Tassin said. "And he gave me a slight nod."
Calderon had completed her GED and begun to turn her life around after surviving a few tumultuous years. She had stopped drinking and doing drugs, and had recently registered to begin taking classes at El Camino Community College.
"Her plan was to become an engineer," Tassin said. "She didn't want to waste years."
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
