Berlyn Fuentes Cosman was a 17-year-old Crescenta Valley High School senior who was killed on June 2, 1991, in Orange, California. After attending her prom she went to an after-prom at the Crown-Sterling Suites Hotel in Anaheim and rested in a designated sleep room. Paul Michael Crowder, a 19-year-old classmate, entered that room with a firearm and shot her while she slept. Crowder admitted he was intoxicated and later said the shooting was accidental; a jury convicted him of second-degree murder and he received a sentence of 15 years to life.

The case prompted changes in the community’s approach to after-prom safety: Prom Plus was established as a supervised after-prom event. Berlyn’s father later wrote A Father’s Unraveling: When Tragedy Strikes, Will The Self You’ve Made Survive?.

If anyone attended that prom or the after-prom and has memories or information about the night, please share what is remembered.