Long Beach Schoolgirl's Sunday Funeral

The funeral was held Sunday for a 10-year-old Long Beach girl who collapsed and died Feb. 24 following an after-school alley fight with an 11-year-old fellow fifth-grader.

A graveside ceremony for Joanna Ramos, who went to Frances Willard Elementary School, about a mile from Wilson High School, in Long Beach, began about 3 p.m. at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in the 6000 block of Santa Monica Boulevard.

A coroner's spokesman said the cause of Joanna's death was blunt force trauma to the head, and the office ruled it a homicide, or death at the hands of another. But the coroner's office did not provide details about the cause of the trauma.

The girl's mother, Cecilia Villanueva, has told reporters that when Joanna came home after the fight, she was nauseous and vomiting. She said she had been punched in the head. Then she fell unconscious, according to Villanueva, who said Joanna had no pulse by the time she got her to a hospital.

The other girl, who's name has been witheld because the case remains under investigation, has not been charged with a crime. No weapons were used in the fight, which Long Beach Police Department has said lasted about one minute.

--City News Service