Teen's gang-related death inspires nursing professor
to write book
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Jessica Salazar had just turned 14. She liked to write and had plans to go to college. She wanted to work with at-risk youths when she grew up.
Recently, she had started to date a friend of hers, 15-year-old Mike Faria. Mike had previously asked his father, who is a newspaper delivery man, if he could accompany him on his route to make $10 for a date he wanted to take Jessica on.
On Friday night, February 4, 2000, the two had planned a party with some friends in Colton.
As the group of teens walked to the party, a carload of alleged gang members stopped next to them and began to pick a fight with Mike.
Mike tried to run, but the gang caught up with him. He fell to the ground and they proceeded to kick him. One of the gang members pulled out a gun and shot Mike three times, killing him.
The rest of the teens that were walking with Mike and Jessica tried to run away from the gang, and when they had gotten away and were able to catch their breath, that's when they realized it. Jessica was not with them. The next morning, Jessica's body was found close to a nearby landfill. She had been shot in the back of the head, execution-style.
Six months earlier, Jessica had met Bernadine Irwin, PhD, RN, associate professor, School of Nursing, who was working as a counselor at the Youth Justice Center in San Bernardino. The Center provides schooling and counseling for juveniles on probation.
Dr. Irwin was deeply affected by Jessica's senseless death and her wasted potential.
"I recognized how much Jessica had to give, and what she could have achieved with the talents she had," notes Dr. Irwin.
School of Nursing students who taught various classes at the Youth Justice Center had also gotten to know Jessica and other local teenagers who are on probation.
"The nursing students," says Dr. Irwin, "became acquainted with Jessica while teaching courses in drug dangers, assertiveness training, and in making sexual choices at the Youth Justice Center. Her absence affected us all."
These nursing students, who were in their final year of the bachelor of science nursing program, researched and prepared material to present to Jessica and the other teens as part of a nursing course they were taking in psychiatry and mental health.
Dr. Irwin has been counseling troubled youth for more than 10 years and she had never seen a group of students or herself become so affected by someone.
"Because of what happened to Jessica, I became in touch with the fact that I really loved these kids and more needed to be done for them," says Dr. Irwin.
She wanted to offer a spiritual program to the youth at the Center, and in addition to that, she wanted to document the changes that the youth went through during the classes.
As a result, Dr. Irwin began writing a book last February immediately following Jessica's death.
"I wrote the book to alert people to the desperate needs of this population and offer a model that can be used other places for at-risk youth," states Dr. Irwin.
The book, which was published this past January, is titled For the Love of Jessica (Millennia Publishing Company).
For Dr. Irwin, this has become much more than just writing a book or leading out in classes at the Center--it has become something deeply personal.
"There simply is not enough being done for this population," says Dr. Irwin.
Each quarter, approximately 20 Loma Linda nursing students, joined by Jonathan Henderson, pastor for campus ministries, Campus Hill Church of Seventh-day Adventists, help plan and lead out in the spiritual programs.
The nursing students are responsible for each session to help get the concept of the day across to the youth who are enrolled in the courses. That concept of the day is then reinforced by Pastor Henderson during his talk.
The first session, "Designing a Life That You Love," was held last spring following Jessica's death. It was this session that Dr. Irwin based her book on.
The second session, "Living Your Dreams," was held in the fall of 2000. A third session, "From Victims to Victors," was taught in the winter of 2001.
According to Dr. Irwin, a fourth session, "Winning the War," is currently being held with future sessions in the planning stage.
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