The mother of a 13-year-old boy who was shot and killed as he waited for her to finish her overnight shift at a Pico Rivera gas station said her son thought of himself as her protector.

Saith Toledo Mendez was watching out for his mother, Clara Mendez, Aug. 23 when he crossed paths with a killer in the gas station parking lot. Clara Mendez said she heard the sound of gunfire and looked outside at a horrific scene.

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Her son was on the ground in the parking lot after being shot at close range.

"I got out as quick as I could, and I saw my boy on the ground with a bullet in his head," she said. "I said, 'Papi, please don't leave me. Just stay with me.'"

Mendez said Saith had been sleeping in the car, as he often di

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