Juan López left Nicaragua for the U.S. last year in hopes of escaping the violence plaguing that Central American nation.
But his life ended tragically on the streets of Los Angeles, felled by a bullet while working to earn money so his daughter back in his home country could celebrate her ninth birthday.
On the day he died, López, 39, was in a good mood because he had been offered a "trabajito," a small job painting an ice cream shop with some other men.
