Ricardo Bonerges Morales-Mejia, 52

Ricardo Bonerges Morales-Mejia, a 52-year-old Latino, died Tuesday, Sept. 12, after he was shot in the 15800 block of Leadwell Street in Van Nuys, according to Los Angeles County coroner’s records.

On Sept. 11, Morales-Mejia was working as a handyman at a Van Nuys residence, Los Angeles Police Det. James Fillmore said.

Police said Morales-Mejia left the property after allowing a recently evicted tenant into the home to grab his belongings. Morales-Mejia came back about 4 p.m. to lock up, and the evicted tenant and an accomplice lured him inside with expensive vodka and shot him, Fillmore said.

The assailants panicked, then stole Morales-Mejia’s truck, Fillmore said.

Morales-Mejia was found the next day inside the home, police said. 

Craig Roscoe Price, a 40-year-old white man, had been evicted from the residence the first week of September, Fillmore said.

Another person who was living with Price, Enrique Humerto Deltoro, a 38-year-old Latino, is believed to have planned the killing with Price, Fillmore said.

Both Price and Deltoro have been charged with one count of murder with the special circumstance allegation of lying in wait, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

Price also faces an allegation that he intentionally shot Morales-Mejia with a handgun, causing death, prosecutors said, and both face an allegation that the crime was gang-related, prosecutors said.

Deltoro was convicted of robbery in 1998 and the sale or transportation of methamphetamine in 2013, according to the district attorney’s office. The two men pleaded not guilty Oct. 12 and are due back in court Nov. 30, according to online court records.

Anyone with information is asked to call detectives at (818) 374-9550. Those who wish to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477.

Contact the Homicide Report. Follow @nicolesantacruz and @latimeshomicide on Twitter.