Teens killed in Chula Vista shooting to be memorialized in Tahoe National Forest

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — A national nonprofit announced it will be planting two trees in the Tahoe National Forest in honor of the two teenagers who were killed in a shooting at a Halloween party in Chula Vista.

The Youth Peace & Justice Foundation, also known as The Uvalde Foundation for Kids, has added Kane Roldan, 15, of San Diego and Elias Yanez, 17, of Imperial Beach to its list of youth lost to gun violence in America.

On Wednesday, the nonprofit said it would be planting two trees in honor of their memory in the Tahoe National Forest as part of its Trees for Peace initiative.

The initiative is a national living memorial designed to memorialize students who lost their lives to gun violence in the United States.

“Our hearts are broken for the families and the entire San Diego community as they face the unimaginable loss of Kane Roldan and Elias Yanez,” said Daniel Chapin, the founder and national director of the foundation, in a statement. “These young men were bonded by friendship and basketball, and their lives were violently stolen by an argument at a party in a senseless act that underscores the epidemic of gun violence we refuse to end.”

Roldan and Yanez were shot and killed late Friday night while attending a Halloween party at a house on East Prospect Street near Judson Way in Chula Vista.

According to the Chula Vista Police Department, officers arrived to the scene around 11:17 p.m. after receiving reports of gunfire.

Both teens were taken to UC San Diego Medical Center where they were later pronounced dead despite life-saving efforts.

On Monday, David Garcia, 18, of National City was arrested by authorities near his home in connection to the shooting. He has been booked into county jail where he faces murder charges.