On the morning of August 5th, 1998, someone knocked on the door of a small bungalow on Ferris Avenue in East Los Angeles. Inside, everything had already gone quiet long before that knock came. The young woman in the back room lay across her bed, a fan still turning beside her, sheets twisted like the night never settled right.
A pillow covered part of her face. Though the blood underneath told a clearer story about how it ended. When police stepped through that house, they found more than a body. They found messages left behind. Words written like someone already thinking past the moment. Nothing looked rushed.
Nothing felt accidental, which made it harder to understand at first glance. That was how it ended. But before that morning, the story moved very differently. Pico Aliso was not just another housing project sitting in East Los Angeles because the way it was built made everything inside it feel cut off from the rest of the city.
The complex sat between the Los Angeles River and a rail yard, while freeway construction boxed it in tighter through the years, which left whole sections isolated from regular movement. By the time the mid80s rolled through, that space had already turned into a patchwork of gang territories where different groups held control over small blocks and stairwells.
Quattro Flats, East LA Dukes, Primera Flats 13, and others all operated within walking distance, so conflict stayed close and constant. People living there got used to hearing gunshots at night, while kids grew up learning who controlled which corners without needing anyone to explain it. Inside those breezeways, daily life moved through routines that blended normal living with street activity.
So tagging walls became one of the first steps for young boys looking to be seen. That kind of graffiti was not just random writing. It marked presence and signaled affiliation which meant it carried weight in those spaces. Over time those same kids got pulled deeper into gang structure where respect came from action rather than talk.
Silence was enforced across the community, not through rules written down, but through what happened to people who spoke too much. Law enforcement moved through the area often, though trust between residents and officers had already broken down years before, so most investigations stalled early. Jose Luis Sans came up in that exact environment, moving between his grandmother’s place on Ferris Avenue and the projects where most of his identity formed.
His father had ties to gang life, while his mother dealt with substance issues that kept her from providing stability, so structure never really held firm around him. That left his grandmother, Maria Curillo, handling most of his upbringing, though even that could not pull him away from what was happening in Pico Aliso.
People who knew him early described a kid who did not hesitate to step into situations that others would avoid, which made him noticeable from a young age. The nickname Smiley came from the way he carried himself during tense moments where he would flash a grin that did not match what was happening around him.
That same attitude showed up when he started getting involved in street activity beyond tagging where small crimes turned into something more serious within a short time. By his mid teens, he had already been picked up for theft in Hollywood, and later arrests tied him to drug activity that kept building over the years.
Charges rarely stuck in ways that slowed him down. So each time he came back out, his confidence grew stronger. People around him started seeing him as someone dependable for situations that required action, which pushed him deeper into quattroflat structure. What stood out about him was not recklessness, but a steady way of handling things that made him look calculated.
While his name started moving through the streets for those reasons, another story was building alongside his. And that story centered around Cigreta Fernandez. She grew up in Boil Heights, attended Roosevelt High School, and managed to graduate in an area where many people dropped out early. After finishing school, she worked with the Santa Fe Railroad, which gave her a path that looked different from the usual roots around Pico Aliso.
When she got involved with science, she stepped into a relationship that carried both attraction and pressure tied to his lifestyle. Over time, that connection became more complicated, especially once she had their daughter Natalie around 1996. Their relationship followed a pattern that people close to them recognized, even if they did not fully understand where it could lead.
Arguments would break out in public, like the time Cyan showed up at a party, poured a drink over her, then demanded she leave with him. Family members would step in, police would sometimes be called, and then days later, the two of them would be back together like nothing happened.
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That cycle kept repeating, which made it easier for people to overlook how serious things were getting. Cigreta knew more about him than most people did. Not just his personality, but also what he was involved in outside the house. As time moved forward, that closeness turned into something more dangerous. Since being near him meant seeing things others never saw, she heard conversations, noticed behavior changes, and eventually got exposed to information tied to violent situations.
By 1998, science had already developed a mindset where survival meant controlling every possible threat around him. That way of thinking did not separate strangers from people close to him, which made anyone with knowledge a potential problem. Cigreta’s position in his life placed her right in that space where proximity turned into risk without her fully realizing it.
That shift in mindset did not happen overnight. It built slowly through years of moving in environments where silence held more value than anything else. Once that belief settled in, the line between loyalty and self-preservation stopped being clear, which changed how decisions got made.
People who talked could not be trusted and people who knew too much carried danger even if they never spoke. By the time events started unfolding in July 1998, those ideas had already shaped how science looked at situations around him. By 1998, the line between loyalty and survival had already blurred.
The situation started shifting one week before Clarence Street turned into a crime scene when a young Quattro Flats member named Juan Paya got jumped by rivals tied to East LA Dukes. That attack did not look random since names like Enrique Hernandez and Leonard Pon were already circulating around that block and Pana took that beating personally even at 14 years old.
He went straight to Jose Smiley Science, not just looking for support, but expecting something to be done in response to that kind of disrespect. Science listened without rushing in to talk, though people close to him said he had already made his decision before the conversation ended. Juan Pena did not realize at that moment that asking for help placed him right next to something far bigger than a street fight.
By July 25th, 1998, sometime around 3 in the morning, Clarence Street stayed quiet in the way those project buildings usually do before something goes down. Science moved through that area with painter beside him, carrying a gun while keeping his posture relaxed enough to avoid drawing attention.
Hernandez and Pon stood near the building, handling their usual routine, which made the setup easier for someone approaching like a regular buyer. Science stepped in close, reached into his pocket like he was about to pull out money, then brought the gun up instead, and fired without hesitation.
Hernandez took shots to the head and dropped immediately while Pon tried to move before getting hit in the chest, thigh, and then back as he collapsed nearby. He a third presence sat close to that scene, and that detail would stay important later, even if it did not change what happened that night. 17-year-old Martin Parta, known around the area as Lazy, had been sitting on nearby steps when those shots cracked through the hallway.
Once the noise stopped, he moved toward the bodies and found Hernandez face down while Pon struggled to breathe, trying to call out before his voice faded. Though, when police arrived later, he did not give them names tied to what he saw. That silence matched the pattern inside Pico Aliso where witnesses understood what came next if they spoke too freely.
Detectives process that scene the same way they handled most gang homicides during that period, collecting shell casings while documenting graffiti nearby that showed ongoing conflict between Quattro Flats and East LA Dukes. A message reading, “Fuck all flakes,” sat on a wall, which tied into previous tensions that had already been building for months across that territory.
Even with evidence pointing toward a targeted attack, no one stepped forward with direct identification, which left the case open without clear witnesses. Meanwhile, science had already moved away from that block, taking Juan Pana with him as they left Clarence Street behind.
That movement did not come with panic. It came with a sense that everything had gone according to plan. Instead of disappearing completely after that shooting, science made a move that tied the entire situation back to his personal life. And that decision changed how things unfolded next. He went straight to Sigreta Fernandez’s apartment in Pico Aliso where her cousin Pedro had been sleeping inside at the time.
Science came in agitated, speaking about what happened while pacing through that space, which created tension almost immediately between him and Sigita. Their argument did not stay quiet since voices carried through that apartment while Pedro overheard parts of the conversation without catching every detail.
What mattered was that Cigreta understood something serious had just happened and she now held information tied to that Clarence Street killing. Over the next few days, that knowledge started weighing on her in ways that people around her could see, even if they did not know the full story. Her mother, Aaliyah Fernandez, later described overhearing phone conversations where Cigreta told Science she did not want to know anything about what he had done.
That kind of statement did not erase what she already heard, and it only made the situation feel more unstable between them. Arguments continued over calls and in person with emotions shifting between fear, frustration, and confusion about what direction things were heading. People in her circle recognized that something was off, though they did not realize how dangerous that tension had become.
While Sigreta tried to distance herself from what she knew, science started seeing her reactions through a different lens that tied back to how he understood survival. In that environment, talking to the police carried serious consequences and anyone suspected of cooperating faced immediate danger. Science believed that once someone crossed that line, there was no coming back from it, which shaped how he handled situations moving forward.
Instead of seeing Cigreta as someone trying to stay out of trouble, he started viewing her as a potential threat tied to the information she held. That shift did not come with emotional breakdowns or hesitation. It came through quiet observation and steady thinking. As days passed after July 25th, rumors started moving through Pico Aliso in the same way they always did after a double homicide.
People talked about Clarence Street, about who might be responsible, about how police had already started asking questions around the area. Detectives moved through different buildings speaking to residents who mostly refused to cooperate. Though that presence alone raised tension across the neighborhood. Science paid attention to all of that, watching how people reacted while staying aware of any signs that pointed back toward him.
Every day that passed added pressure, not just from law enforcement, but from the possibility that someone close to him might break under that weight. Juan Painter stayed caught in the middle of all this, carrying knowledge that tied directly to the murders while trying to maintain the code he grew up around.
At 14, he had already stepped into something that placed him under serious scrutiny, especially once law enforcement started linking him to the Clarence Street scene. He kept quiet during initial questioning, sticking to the same silence that others followed, even when pressure started building from both sides.
On one end, police wanted information that could close the case, while on the other end, street expectations made it clear what would happen if he spoke out. Scans, meanwhile, started tightening his focus on what he believed needed to be controlled before things got out of hand. He knew that Cigreta had heard details tied to the killings.
And he also understood how quickly information could move once fear took over. That awareness pushed him toward a decision that did not rely on emotion or personal attachment. Even though she was the mother of his child. In his mind, eliminating risk mattered more than preserving relationships, especially when those relationships carry potential consequences.
By the time August started, that way of thinking had already taken hold, guiding his next steps without hesitation. Each passing day between the Clarence Street murders and what happened next added another layer to the situation, making it clear that this was not going to fade on its own.
Police presence stayed active. Rumors kept spreading and tension inside that relationship did not settle at any point. Scans kept moving through the neighborhood, watching, listening, calculating what needed to happen before anything slipped out of his control. The decision he reached did not involve confrontation in public spaces or retaliation in the streets like before.
The next move would not happen in the streets. On the morning of August 5th, 1998, around 6:00, Jose Smiley Science showed up at Cigreta Fernandez’s apartment in Pico Aliso while her cousin Pedro and his girlfriend Zeta was still inside. He knocked, stepped in calmly, then moved straight upstairs where Cigreta stayed, which led to another argument that sounded familiar at first.
Minutes later, footsteps came down the stairs and Pedro looked up to see Science holding a gun while Sigreta walked ahead of him trying to keep her voice steady. Science looked at Pedro then says she had snitched on him which shifted the entire mood inside that apartment without turning into chaos.
Sigreta told Pedro she was fine while asking him to watch baby Natalie, though the tension in her tone suggested something else was going on beneath those words. She walked out with him anyway, not running, not screaming, just moving like someone trying to keep things from getting worse in front of people she cared about.
stayed close behind her as they left Pico Aliso, keeping control without raising attention from neighbors who had already seen too much over the years. They drove across East Los Angeles toward Ferris Avenue, heading to the same bungalow where Science had spent parts of his childhood under his grandmother’s roof.
That location mattered not just for convenience but for privacy tied to familiarity that outsiders would not question. When they reached the house, Maria Curo opened the door, seeing both of them standing there without realizing what had already been decided. Science told her he needed time alone with Cigreta to talk things through, presenting it like another argument that would settle itself after some space.
Sigra tried to signal something was wrong, telling Maria that he had a gun, though past patterns made it harder for that warning to land the way it should have. Maria had seen them argue before, then watched them reconcile as if nothing had happened, so she stepped out to give them time while heading to a friend’s place nearby.
That decision created the window science needed, removing the only person who could have interrupted what he had already planned. Time moved forward inside that house without anyone else present. Though outside, Maria realized she had forgotten her cigarettes and decided to return with her friend Carol. When they knocked, Science opened the door only part way, handing over the cigarettes while keeping his body positioned so they could not see past him.
He told them everything was fine, urging them to leave again, which they did without pushing further into the situation. Hours later, around 11 in the morning, science called Carol’s house asking for Maria, then told her he had made a big mistake and warned her not to come back. That call changed everything, pushing Maria to return immediately instead of staying away.
When she got back to Ferris Avenue, the front door stood unlocked, which already signaled something was off before she stepped inside. Maria and Carol moved through the house, then reached the back bedroom where the fan still turned slowly near the bed. Cigreta lay there tangled in sheets, half-dressed, a pillow covering her face, while blood marked the violence that had already taken place hours earlier.
Carol pulled the pillow back, exposing injuries that confirmed she had been beaten, sexually assaulted, then shot once in the temple with a 357 Magnum. That scene did not show signs of struggle across the house. It showed controlled violence carried out in one place with purpose. Detectives later processed that room carefully, noting shell casings placed neatly on a dresser, which indicated someone thinking through each step instead of acting in panic.
A handwritten note said others involved had nothing to do with the situation, which looked like an attempt to protect anyone who helped transport him earlier that day. On the wall, another message told Maria to take care of Natalie, signed with affection that did not match what had just happened in that same space. Those details painted a picture of planning where even after committing murder, Sans stayed focused on what came next.
That focus extended beyond the crime itself, moving into how he would disappear without leaving loose ends behind. He did not wait for the police to close in or for anyone to start asking questions. Instead, he left immediately after finishing what he came to do. Within days, he crossed the border into Mexico, moving away from East Los Angeles without hesitation or visible struggle.
That transition did not slow him down. It pushed him into a different level of operation where street knowledge blended with organized crime structures. Somewhere in that shift, he connected with Rolando Rolo Antiveros, a figure tied to the Mexican mafia, who had already built networks across both sides of the border.
Averos came from East LA as well, though his path took him through college spaces before leading him into drug trafficking tied to cartel systems. Through that connection, science stepped into a network that offered training, discipline, and access beyond what he had known in Pico Aliso. Reports later described him learning counter surveillance methods, handling weapons with more precision, and moving through operations that required patience rather than quick reaction.
That transformation changed how he operated, turning him into someone who could move between Mexico and the United States without drawing attention. He used false documents, crossed borders through different routes, and stayed active in drug distribution networks tied to Los Angeles, Orange County, and beyond.
People who saw him during that period described a different image, one that blended street identity with a more polished presence. He spent time in upscale environments, visiting clubs in Long Beach, wearing clean clothes, moving like someone who understood how to avoid attention from law enforcement. That lifestyle did not remove him from violence.
It placed him in situations where violence came tied to larger stakes involving money and loyalty. One name that surfaced during that phase was Bogart Bellow, a drug dealer connected to the same network who had built a reputation for making serious money at a young age. Bella has started pushing cocaine through cartel channels, earning tens of thousands monthly while trying to transition into legitimate business ventures through a record label.
That shift toward legitimacy did not remove him from danger, especially when disputes started forming over product quality tied to transactions with science. At some point around early 2008, tension built between them over a deal that did not meet expectations, which science reportedly saw as disrespect rather than simple business failure.
Not long after, Bellow’s body was found inside his Audi Q7 parked near Mission Hills with a bag pulled over his head in a situation that police initially treated as unclear. Detectives later suspected Cyans had a role in that death, believing it followed patterns tied to retaliation rather than random circumstances.
No direct charges connected him to that case, though the timing and context kept his name attached to the situation in investigative circles. That moment reinforced how far he had moved from local conflicts into a broader system where disputes ended with permanent consequences. By that stage, science was no longer just a figure tied to Quattro Flats or Pico Aliso.
He had become part of something larger that stretched across cities and borders. His operations connected street level actions with cartailbacks movements, allowing him to operate in spaces most people never reached. That expansion came with new risks, though it also built the reputation that kept him moving without interference for years.
The life he built during that period looked controlled on the surface, though it depended heavily on money flowing through the right channels. But the mistake that brought him back started with money. In August 2008, a sheriff’s deputy in St. Charles County, Missouri, pulled over a car for tailgating. Though that routine stop turned serious once a K9 unit alerted to something hidden.
Officers removed door panels and found 55 vacuum sealed bundles totaling $610,000 with labels tied to names like Easy and Toro. Easy pointed to Oscar Torres while Toro connected back to Jose Smiley Sans placing that money inside a network already tied to crossber drug operations.
Deputies seized the cash but released the man which left Torres facing a debt he could not settle even after showing proof that the money was taken by police. That loss placed pressure on him from people who did not accept explanations, especially someone like Science, who treated missing money as a direct problem.
On October 5th, 2008, Torres arranged a night out using a Hummer limousine driven by Anthony Lyman, who believed he was just helping move friends across Los Angeles for the evening. They picked up several men, including science, who introduced himself casually, smiling while blending into the group without raising suspicion.
Hours passed through different locations before they ended up at Torres home in Whittier, where the mood shifted once the door opened. Syan stepped inside, then pulled out a gun and started firing without warning, hitting Anthony first before turning toward Torres as he tried to run.
Torres made it outside but collapsed after multiple shots while scans walked up and finished him with rounds fired at close range and execution captured on hidden surveillance cameras inside the house. Detectives recovered that footage later even though cyans had taken the recording disc since the system stored data on a hard drive that preserved everything.
Once investigators viewed the video, identification came fast as officers recognized science despite changes in weight and appearance over the years. That evidence pushed the FBI to get involved, leading to his placement on the 10 most wanted list in 2009, which expanded the search beyond local jurisdictions.
During those years, reports described him moving under multiple aliases, possibly altering his appearance through surgery. His name carried weight across different regions, building a reputation that mixed fact with speculation, making it harder to track his exact movements. Back in California, another thread started closing in on him through Juana, the same 14-year-old who had stood beside him during the Clarence Street killings.
Pana had been arrested and charged, initially staying silent while holding on to the code that shaped his environment. Years later, while dealing with terminal illness and custody, he chose to speak, giving investigators details that confirmed Science’s role in those earlier murders.
That confession filled gaps left open by witness silence, tying past violence directly to the man already being hunted across borders. In November 2012, a tip led authorities to Guadalajara, Mexico, where scans had been living under another identity inside a residential neighborhood. Mexican federal agents working alongside the FBI moved in on the location and arrested him without resistance while he stayed inside watching television.
He looked different, heavier with shaved features that reduced recognition, though fingerprints and records confirmed who he was. Prosecutors built a case using witness testimony, forensic evidence, and the 2008 surveillance footage that showed his actions clearly. In 2022, a jury convicted him of the murders of Sigreta Fernandez and Oscar Torres, along with attempted murder and related charges, leading to a sentence that ensured he would spend the rest of his life behind bars.
That outcome brought the story back to where it started, inside that bedroom on Ferris Avenue, where Sigreta lost her life after being taken from her own home. Her death was not random. It followed a pattern that showed how science handled situations he believed threatened his control. He eliminated perceived risks, escalated violence when pressure increased, then moved on without looking back.
Though that cycle never truly closed. Every move he made built toward consequences that caught up with him years later, even after crossing borders and changing identities. In the end, the one person he tried to silence became the reason his story never stayed buried.
Disclaimer : This content may be created by AI for entertainment purposes. Any resemblance to real persons, events, or places is coincidental.
