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TikToker Siyah, 17, died after shooting at Cerritos mall

Published 1 month ago4 minute read

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Around 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, a 17-year-old girl was found shot in the mall parking lot.

CERRITOS, Calif. — A shooting in the parking lot of the Los Cerritos Center mall Jan. 18 resulted in one death. Nahsiyah Turner, who was known as Siyah on TikTok, was found shot in the seat of a car, according to CBS News.

Turner was transported to a hospital where she died from critical injuries. Police detained the four young men who were passengers, according to an eyewitness. The investigation is ongoing

On TikTok, Siyah (@s1yahhh._) had more than 259,000 followers on Jan 21, and now has more than 338,000 followers. She posted “spend the day/get ready with me” videos and TikToks of her dancing. 

“She was always smiling (and) dancing on my fyp (For You page) rest in peace baby,” one TikToker commented on Siyah’s final post.

The comments section is filled with fans mourning her death. 

Lit. Steve DeJong, of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Homicide Bureau, is in charge of this case.

“Deputies from the Cerritos station responded to the parking lot of the Cerritos mall in regards to a gunshot victim call,” DeJong said. “When they got there, they observed a female juvenile, 17 years old, with a gunshot wound.”

DeJong was not able to confirm her identity, only that she was from the San Bernardino County area. According to media company The Aux Connect, Siyah was a senior at Rancho Verde High School in Moreno Valley, which is part of the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario area.

“As far as the context and investigation, I can’t elaborate,” DeJong said. “This investigation is going to go on for a while.”

Jeremy Paguia, a manager at Los Cerritos Chipotle, was working the night of the incident. He didn’t hear anything until he saw a “commotion” in the parking lot during his break and customers running out to a car.

“There was a lady passed out and a full car of boys and one girl, all screaming,” Paguia said. “It was a girl unconscious in her front seat. No pulse. A nurse came by and started doing CPR for a good 10 minutes.”

Paguia said two helicopters, 10 to 15 police cars and two ambulances arrived on the scene. He closed Chipotle three hours early, around 8 p.m., and the police kept people in the lot until about 9 p.m.

Los Cerritos Chipotle is located outside Cerritos mall with a clear view of the parking lot. (Photo by Bella Kim)

“Our whole side of the mall got closed by cops. No one was allowed to leave, so I kept everyone safe here,” Paguia said. “There were like 20 cars in the parking lot that couldn’t go home (until 9 p.m.).” 

Shortly after the incident, the Cerritos Sheriff’s Station (@lasdcerritos) posted on Instagram requesting that people avoid the area while deputies investigated the site of the shooting. They confirmed that there was no active shooter at the time of their post. 

The last shooting at Cerritos mall was in April 2024, and the victim, a man struck by gunfire, died at a hospital. Paguia, who has worked at Chipotle for over a year, said he generally feels safe when working. He added that Chipotle has procedures in place for an active shooter situation. 

“We would shut down the store, turn off the lights and go to the back where it’s safest,” Paguia said. 

Students from surrounding schools, including Los Alamitos High School, frequent Cerritos mall to shop and eat. 

Tasha Johnson, LAHS sophomore, said she visited the mall a couple of weeks ago. She hadn’t heard about the shooting on Saturday but knew about the one last April. 

“That’s probably the mall that I go to the most with my friends and my mom. You don’t usually think that would happen, so you feel safe. At night, it’s a little more scary,” Johnson said.

On Sunday, the Cerritos Sheriff’s Instagram account updated on their story that the on-site investigation concluded at 3 a.m.

“There are no outstanding suspects. The mall has fully resumed normal operations,” according to the Cerritos Sheriff’s Instagram story post.


Writer’s note: Bella Kim works at Los Cerritos Chipotle but was not present the night of Jan. 18.

This story was originally published in Los Alamitos High School’s Griffin Gazette Jan. 21.

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