Jose Manuel Valenzuela, a 21-year-old Latino, was shot and killed Monday, Sept. 15, in the 2600 block of Sastre Avenue in El Monte, according to L.A. County coroner’s records.
Valenzuela and a 29-year-old Latino were in the back seat of a light-colored Nissan when a vehicle sped up behind them, said Lt. Dave Coleman, with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Two men, described by witnesses as Latino, got out and fired into the Nissan, hitting Valenzuela and the 29-year-old, Coleman said.
“It appears that these two guys were targeted because they went right after them,” he said.
The two wounded men were then driven to a hospital by the other people in the Nissan. Valenzuela was pronounced dead at 12:30 a.m., said Ed Winter, assistant chief of investigations for the coroner’s office.
The 29-year-old Latino was hospitalized in critical condition.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Sheriff’s Department Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500. Those who wish to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477.