A story for every victim

Duwayne Bennett, 44

Duwayne Bennett, a 44-year-old black man, was stabbed outside of an International House of Pancakes restaurant at 4070 Lincoln Blvd. in Marina Del Rey about 1:40 a.m. Friday, Feb. 29. Bennett was taken to UCLA Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 2:18 a.m.

Officers with LAPD's Pacific Division later arrested Victor Vela, 37, on suspicion of murder. According to police, Bennett and Vela began arguing outside of a bar as it was preparing to close.

The argument was broken up, but escalated further after Vela followed Bennett across the street to the restaurant, where Vela allegedly struck the man with a bicycle chain, stabbed him, then fled the scene on a skateboard, according to witnesses.

[An earlier version of this post incorrectly gave Bennett's date of death as March 1.]

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