MENDOTA -- Sixth-grader Berenice Ramirez stared at the patch of dirt outside her duplex apartment.
Most afternoons, her 4-year-old neighbor, Alex Christopher Mercado, would be playing in the dirt with her two youngest sisters. If they got bored, they would hang out on a bench next to the front door or ride their bikes.
But on this day the dirt patch was empty. The whole neighborhood, in fact, was quiet.
"It's difficult, because he doesn't come and knock on the door and ask for my sisters anymore," said Berenice, 12.
One week after authorities say Alex was sexually assaulted and drowned by a 14-year-old boy next door, the public-housing neighborhood in this dusty corner of Mendota is struggling to come to terms with the horrid details of his death.
Parents say they fear for their children's safety. Some have begun walking their kids to the bus stop around the corner. Groups of kids who often played in front yards were nowhere to be found on a recent afternoon.
"Before, everyone used to be outside," said Gloria Martinez, who lives across the street from Alex's apartment.
Martinez has lived in her apartment for seven years and has always considered her community a place with trustworthy neighbors. But now she wonders if it's safe to raise her 3-month-old daughter here.
"I'm scared because my baby's going to grow up and start walking," Martinez said. "I'm scared that the same thing might happen to my baby."
Alex's accused killer, Raul Renato Castro, is in jail and has been charged with murder. His arraignment is scheduled for Tuesday.
Benny Ponce, who lives one street over from Alex's apartment, said he has seen many parents walk their children to the bus stop this week. Normally, he said, kids would walk there themselves.
"Everyone's scared," said Ponce, who has three daughters -- two in elementary school and one in high school. "My children are scared right now."
Meanwhile, a memorial for Alex that started off as a few candles has blossomed into a 7-foot-tall display of stuffed Teddy bears, flower bouquets and balloons. Occasionally, neighbors stop by to pay their respects.
Berenice, whose family's apartment shares a wall with the apartment where Raul and his mother lived, said that Alex would come over almost every day to play with her two youngest sisters, ages 3 and 5.
Her older sister, Maria Ramirez, smiled when asked what she remembered of Alex.
"He was funny," said Maria, a 15-year-old freshman at Mendota High School. "He used to have this mohawk that he called his shark tail."
When Alex was on his bike, he would brag about "burning rubber," she said. Once, he almost fell off but was able to recover.
"I told him, 'That was a bad trick,' " Maria said. "He said, 'Want me to do it again?' "
Maria laughed. But a moment later, she was quiet, then turned her head and started to cry.
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