Walter Vega, 30, a Latino man, was shot several times at 749 S. Berendo St. in Wilshire Center just west of Vermont Avenue at about 4:15 p.m. Monday, Nov. 12, and died at 4:57 p.m. at County-USC Hospital.
Vega was only a week or so out of prison. He was standing on the sidewalk in an area where people congregate to drink nearly every day. His attackers were two Latino men or youths, one in a dark shirt, the other in a light one. They walked up, shot him, ran to a waiting blue Toyota van, and sped away.
Brian Ramos, 20, a Latino young man, was shot multiple times at 926 S. Mariposa St. in Koreatown at about 11:35 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 30. He died at a hospital at 12:15 a.m.
Police said he was parking his car when a Latino man in his early 20s, described as 5-foot-7, 170 pounds, with very short black hair, came up and said, "Where are you from?" He then started shooting before Ramos could reply. Ramos was not documented as a gang member, police said. A reward for information in the case is pending. LAPD Wilshire Dets. John Shafia and Mark Holguin are at (213) 473-0446.
Update: This case has been solved. A Latino man was arrested and charged with Ramos's murder. Credit for the clearance goes to LAPD Wilshire Det. Mark Holguin.
Dispatch: "Buen hijo" (originally posted on November 1, 2007 at 1:18 p.m.)
Brian Ramos lived in a …
Isaias Rueda, a 23-year-old Latino man, was shot while waiting for a taxi in the 200 block of Kenmore Avenue at about 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 6. A second Latino man, 30, was also struck by gunfire and was hospitalized in critical condition.
Rampart Det. Fred Faustino said Rueda was a construction worker with no ties to gangs. He lives in the neighborhood, and was seeing off his friend, who was waiting for the taxi to take him home. A dark SUV drove up. Rueda walked up to the SUV window, thinking it was the taxi. Words were exchanged, and gunfire erupted. A possible "mistaken identity" killing, Faustino said.
The shooting took place in the Normandie Hill area, right at the apex of a little rise in a neighborhood with sweeping views to Griffith Observatory. Fourteen-year-old Erwin Escobar was killed two blocks to the south on the same street last …
Erwin Escobar, 14, a Latino youth, was shot and killed at 140 S. Kenmore Ave. in Koreatown at about 10:40 p.m. Monday, Sept. 24. He was getting out of a car when two Latino men or youths confronted him, shot him several times, and ran. His mother was on the balcony of their apartment building, and saw all of it. By the time she ran downstairs, he appeared to be dead, family members said.
He was still on the ground when LAPD Rampart officers arrived. He was taken to a local hospital, where he died.
About 45 minutes later, two Rampart patrol officers got a robbery call at Loma and 2nd Street, a few miles to the east toward downtown. A man was trying to rob a catering truck driver.
The two Rampart officers, James Muniz and Rick Stannard, answered the call quickly enough to spot the suspect--Richard Alvarez, 21. …
Morris Moran, 27, a Latino man, was shot while walking with his wife to his parked car near the intersection of Manhattan Place and Wilshire Boulevard off Western Avenue at about 10:15 p.m. Sept. 8.
Two Latino men came up behind him on Wilshire, said LAPD Wilshire Division Det. John Shafia. They shot him and ran. He stumbled around the corner on Manhattan before falling. His wife was unharmed. Moran, who was from Canoga Park, was taken to Cedars-Sinai hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Henry Saucedo, 19, a Latino young man, was shot several times in the back and neck at the intersection of Vermont Avenue and 8th Street in Wilshire Center/Koreatown and died at County-USC Medical Center at 2:54 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 22.
He was walking. His assailant, believed to be a Latino man or youth, ran up behind him, and, without preliminaries, shot him and turned and ran back in the direction from which he came, said LAPD Rampart Det. Fred Faustino. Saucedo was out of school and unemployed. He may have been involved in a tagging or party crew, but it is unclear what precipitated the murder.
Rampart detectives are at (213) 207-2060.
Ricardo Favela, 15, a Latino youth, was confronted by other Latino men or youths on the sidewalk at the intersection of 8th and Oxford streets in Koreatown at about 6 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 8. One of his confronters pulled a gun out of his waistband and shot Favela.
He was taken to County-USC hospital, where he died in surgery at about 8:10 p.m. He had grown up in the area, departed, and then returned, said Det. Javier Hernandez of LAPD's Wilshire station. (Left, Oxford Street. Some memorialized him with flowers, others with graffiti).
The shooting happened in daylight in a crowded area. Hernandez asked that anyone who saw or heard any aspect of what happened, or has information on the killing, call him or partner Det. Ron Cade at (213) 473-0446.
Thomas Christopher, 66, a white man, was stabbed in the chest at 314 South Alexandria Ave. in the Koreatown area at about 12:40 a.m. Sunday, July 29. He was taken to a hospital, where he died at 1:50 a.m. July 29.
The suspect, 22-year-old Victor Esparza, a Latino young man, fled down Alexandria but was caught by Rampart police officers.
Christopher was originally from New York. He was liked strongly by some, disliked strongly by others, said detectives who canvassed the neighborhood. Esparza was an acquaintance, and an invited guest in Christopher's home, Rampart homicide Det. Lilia Velasco. The two had quarreled, and Esparza had walked away, leaving Thomas wounded in his wake. Neighbors pointed out Esparza to police officers, who arrested him. Esparza claimed to have had earlier troubles with Christopher, and to have been wronged by him, but police could not confirm his account. Esparza was charged with …
James McKinney, 41, a white man, suffered blunt force trauma to the head at Wilton Avenue and Olympic Boulevard in LAPD's Wilshire Division, and died at 11:41 a.m. Sunday, June 3.
McKinney was a well-known and popular resident of the area who ran errands for neighbors, according to LAPD Wilshire Det. John Shafia. Unable to work due to a psychological disability, he lived in a board-and-care home at that intersection.
That night, at about 8:45 p.m., he left home to go to a local liquor store. A Latino man in his 20s ran up to him and struck him from behind with a baseball bat. Someone saw it happen and called police. McKinney was taken to Cedars-Sinai Hospital, where he died.
Anyone with information is asked to call detectives at (213) 473-0446.
Update: An arrest has been made in this case.
Hyo Lim, a 51-year-old man of Korean descent, was shot in the head and chest by Sae Kyoon Na, 47, another man, who police say shot himself immediately after in this Koreatown murder-suicide case.
Police say Na walked into Suhrabal, Lim's popular Korean barbeque restaurant at the corner of First Street and Western Avenue at about 4:50 p.m., argued with Lim, shot him in the head, then shot himself. Police found both Lim and Na inside the restaurant, dead of gunshot wounds to the head. They also found a handgun. Authorities said there was a quarrel between the two men: Na had accused Lim of having an affair with his wife. Lim's time of death was listed as 6:10 p.m. Tuesday, May 22.
An apparent full-term Latina newborn, identified only as Jane Doe #14 by the coroner, died Tuesday, March 13, in Koreatown, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records.
The baby was discovered unresponsive and wrapped in a towel on the floor of a residence, according to the coroner. The apparent mother was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital's emergency room with vaginal bleeding and other signs of recent child birth, but denied having giving birth.
Eugene Robinson, a 34-year-old black man, was shot several times at 138 S. Catalina St. in Koreatown and died at 7:38 a.m. Feb. 8. The bullets struck him during the night, police said. A passerby found Robinson's body in the morning and, thinking he was drunk or unconscious, called paramedics, who pronounced him dead at the scene.
The shrine pictured here is scribbled with messages in Spanish mourning Robinson, nicknamed "Shadow."
Update: LAPD Rampart Det. Michael Arteaga put out a new plea in September, calling for people to take renewed interest in this still-unsolved case. Anyone with information about Robinson, his life or his killers -- including anonymous tips -- is asked to call. Det. Arteaga is at (213) 207-2072.