Victims, Nov. 19-25, 2007

The following 14 posts represent the 14 people who died from homicide in Los Angeles County for the most recent period covered by the coroner, Nov. 19-25, 2007. Homicides listed earlier in the week are updated here with additional information, and presented chronologically, in order of the victim's death. These lists are published every week; to go back further, and view all previous lists from 2007, scroll down or see the archive at right. The Homicide Report has covered about 90% of L.A. County homicides this year. Several dozen cases have yet to be added to the list. At left, candles for one of the two 15-year-old boys who were murdered in L.A. County during this period--Joshua Bedolla, who was gunned down in Florence.

Jason Wei, 42

Jason Wei, 42, an Asian American man, was killed by gunfire during a restaurant robbery at 815 W. Naomi St. in Arcadia at about 9:24 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 25. Arcadia police Lt. Larry Goodman said a Latino suspect dressed in dark clothing with a dark beanie came into the Osaka Ya sushi restaurant, where Wei worked, and took money from the cash register. The restaurant was still open; a few customers and other employees were inside. Goodman said they offered no resistance, and the suspect simply shot Wei for unknown reasons and fled. Wei was taken to nearby Methodist Hospital, where he died. Arcadia police are looking for information on this case. Det. John Bonoma is at (626) 574-5166.

Please see previous post for a video-still of Wei's killer, who is still at a large.

Timothy Johnson, 37

Timothy Johnson, 37, a black man, was shot multiple times at 939 E. 92nd Street in Watts at about 3:23 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 25, and died at the scene. Police officers had received a "shots fired" call and found him. He had been visiting friends in the area.

He had gone to a party that night, then had stopped on his way home to socialize with friends outside. His shooters came by walking or driving. He was hit multiple times. When officers arrived, he was alone, dead on the ground, and the people who had been outside with him had disappeared. A pit-bull puppy chained in the yard was curled on his body.

Esteban Garcia, 15

Esteban Garcia, a 15-year-old Latino youth, was shot at 2125 S. Hooper Ave. around 9:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 24, according to LAPD Newton-area detectives. He was taken to County-USC Hospital, where he died. Garcia was driving a car out of an alley when the bullet hit him. His foot slammed into the accelerator, and the car lurched forward and flipped over. Garcia was a student in Santa Monica. His family had recently moved from the area, but he had returned to visit. (The picture at left was taken three years ago, when he was 12.) LAPD Newton detectives are at (323) 846-6556.

*Update: Newton detectives have cleared this case.

Luis Martinez, 23

Luis Martinez, 23, a Latino man, was shot at least three times in the 1400 block of Lockwood Street in West Covina and died at about 10:10 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 24.

Joshua Bedolla, 15

Joshua Bedolla, a 15-year-old Latino youth, was hit multiple times by gunfire at 1774 Florence Ave. in Florence at about 11:25 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 24, and died at the scene. Joshua, a Huntington Park high school student, was walking on the street by himself. The suspects -- older Latino teenagers --drove up, got out, shot him and then escaped. They were driving a 2004 to 2006 silver or gray Honda Accord with tinted windows. Sheriff's detectives are looking for the car, or any other leads on this case. Call Det. Mark Lillienfeld at (323) 890-5500.

Flora Fuentes, 71

Flora Fuentes, 71, a Latina, was discovered dead of stab wounds in her apartment at 725 S. Alvarado Street in LAPD's Rampart Division in Westlake at about noon on Saturday, Nov. 24. She ran a Salvadoran restaurant with her family, and usually opened the business up early in the morning. When she failed to do so on this day, family members went to the apartment -- where she lived alone -- and discovered her dead on the floor with numerous stab wounds, said Rampart Det. Fred Faustino. There was no sign of forced entry, detectives said.

Joshua Pipho, 20

Joshua Pipho, a 20-year-old white young man, was stabbed approximately 16 times on a roadway inside a condominium complex at 25216 Steinbeck Ave. in Stevenson Ranch in Valencia at 1:48 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 24, and died at the scene. Pipho was among a group of young men who got into a fight with another group in a dispute that "got out of hand," said Sheriff's Lt. Dan Rosenberg. About 10 to 15 people were involved in the melee, which culminated with a suspect pulling out a knife and stabbing Pipho. A second youth was also stabbed -- an 18-year-old who survived but remained hospitalized. The suspects, also white young men, fled.

Zerfie Getahun, 33

Zerfie Getahun, a 33-year-old woman of Ethiopian descent, was fatally stabbed multiple times, as was her father, at 1230 W. 39th Street in LAPD's Southwest Division either Nov. 19 or Nov. 20, although her body was not found until several days later. Her father, the other victim of this double homicide, was identified as Getahun Reta, 75. According to LAPD South Bureau detectives, father and daughter were stabbed inside the home by Reta's 33-year-old son, possibly a step- or half-brother to Zerfie. The son then drove up to a rural area of Fresno and dumped the father's dismembered body on the side of a freeway. He then returned and took Zerfie Getahun's body and dumped it along the 101 Freeway south of Santa Barbara. Fresno police found the father's body, and traced the case back to Los Angeles. When police went to the home and knocked on the door, Reta's son tried to climb out a window to escape. But he was caught, and charged. Zerfie Getahun is listed as a homicide in Los Angeles County; her father's case was officially a Fresno County coroner case as of today.

LA Times story

Mario Gutierrez, 37

Mario Gutierrez, a 37-year-old Latino man, was shot at 4442 Verdemour Ave. in El Sereno about 10:45 p.m. Nov. 22, Thanksgiving, and died at the scene. LAPD Hollenbeck detectives said that Gutierrez and his brother-in-law got into an argument during the family's Thanksgiving gathering over a remark the brother-in-law had made about Gutierrez's wife. The argument escalated to pushing and shoving, then spilled out onto the street where Gutierrez was shot. The 27-year-old brother-in-law turned himself in to police a few hours later.

*Update: Police said the brother-in-law was later released; prosecutors said the killing was self-defense. Guitierrez, they said, had fought with others and picked up a chunk of cement to lob.

Damon Barney, 32

Damon Barney, 32, a black man, was shot in the 800 block of W. 97th Street in South Los Angeles on Wednesday, Nov. 21, at about 11:30 p.m. and died shortly after, at 12:10 a.m. Nov. 22. He had been in the street with a group of people. There was a screaming argument, possibly over a woman, then gunshots. Police arrived and found him down, on the sidewalk. He was taken to a hospital. LAPD Southeast detectives seek information. Dets. Sam Marullo and Nathan Kouri are at (213) 485-4341.

Moises Salinas, 24

Moises Salinas, 24, died after being shot multiple times at 1048 W. Kensington Road in Angelino Heights at about 2:24 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 21. He was sitting in the passenger seat of a parked car, and someone came up on foot and killed him. LAPD Rampart homicide detectives are investigating.

Jeffrey Sinclair, 17

Jeffrey Sinclair, 17, a black youth, was shot multiple times at 825 W. 54th Street in LAPD's 77th Street Division at about 9:15 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 20. He was taken to California Hospital, where he died at 9:45 p.m.

His mother was incarcerated; he lived with his grandparents. He had been on his bicycle just before he was attacked. The bicycle fell near him at the homicide scene.

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Juan Mazariegos, 20

Juan Mazariegos, a 20-year-old Latino young man, was shot in the back at 5746 Aldama St. in Highland Park at about 8:15 p.m. Monday, Nov. 19. He was taken to Pasadena's Huntington Memorial Hospital, where he died. He was standing with friends when young men in a car drove up and started shooting. Mazariegos was studying to become an electrician, police said. 

Blanca Molina, 36

Blanca Molina, 36, a Latina woman, died on Monday, Nov. 19, more than two weeks after she was shot in the neck in the 200 block of Arbor Vitae in Inglewood. She had just arrived at her home on the evening of Sunday, Nov. 4,  and was confronted by a Latino man or youth in a black jacket who shot her. Severely wounded, she was on life support for 15 days.

(This is the last post in the comprehensive coroner's list of homicides in Los Angeles County for the period Nov. 19-25.)

Police seek this Newton homicide suspect

Los Angeles police today released this composite sketch of a suspect, right, believed to have stabbed 23-year-old Rogelio Parra, left, in a robbery attempt at 43rd and Ascot in South-Central Los Angeles at about 4:50 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 28.

He is described as a Latino young man, 18 to 22 years old, of small build.

Parra was a popular neighborhood tamale seller from Guerrero state, Mexico.

Anyone with any information is asked to call Newton homicide Dets. Mike Terrazas or Rogelio Sandoval at (323) 846-6556.

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HR Sunday Opinion piece

Look beyond trend stories

Arcadia robbery-murder suspect

Arcadia police are looking for this man, who killed restaurant worker Jason Wei, 42, during a robbery at a sushi place at 815 W. Naomi Street on Sunday evening, Nov. 25. (See entry below).

Near left, victim Wei. Anyone with information is asked to call Arcadia detectives at (626) 574-5166.

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Five months after a homicide

Dovon Harris, 15, was murdered in Watts five months ago, dying on June 17. The Homicide Report has been following his family's experience in monthly installments since then.

This month, a very short, belated report on Barbara Pritchett, Dovon's mother:

Readers may recall that by four months after Dovon's murder, Barbara Pritchett had gone back to her job as a home-health worker. She had taken the first steps toward seeking counseling for her grief over her son's death. But her grief remained a daily struggle. She reported having problems functioning at work, and had taken two sick days because of uncontrollable crying.

This month, when HR checked in five months after Dovon's death, Pritchett said she had been forced to give up working, too emotionally distraught to hold herself together on the job with consistency. She is back at home now during the day, providing child care for other family members. She had finally settled on a counseling service to send a therapist to her home, but was still waiting for the agency to set an appointment. The upcoming holidays were proving difficult to face without her son, and she said she was focused on "just trying to get through" Thanksgiving and Christmas. HR will return to Dovon's family for a longer report the week before Christmas to mark the six-month point since his murder.

See Four Months After a Homicide,   Three Months After, Two Months After and One Month After.

Victims, Nov. 13-19, 2007

The following 11 posts represent the comprehensive list of people killed by homicide in Los Angeles County for the period Nov. 13-19, 2007, as reported to the county coroner. Each week, the Homicide Report matches preliminary information from law enforcement and other sources to coroner's case files to produce this summary.

Avory Dunn, 45

Avory Dunn, 45, a black man, was shot multiple times in the 300 block of South Poinsettia Avenue in Compton around 11 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 18. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Sheriff's detectives are investigating. More to come.

Jesus Barrera, 30

Jesus Barrera, a 30-year-old Latino man, was shot and killed Sunday, Nov. 18, at about 10:02 p.m. in the 1700 block of New Hampshire Street near Venice Boulevard, part of the Byzantine-Latino Quarter in LAPD's Rampart Division. Police responding to a report of an injury shooting found him dead at the scene. The man has not been identified. Investigators are still trying to determine who he was.

Christopher Ingram, 19

Christopher Ingram, a 19-year-old black young man, was pronounced dead at a hospital at 8:30 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 18, probably about 15 hours after being wounded in what was believed to be a Harbor-area shooting Nov. 17.

The wounded young man was dropped off at a local hospital by someone. He collapsed on the pavement outside the emergency room. Trauma surgeons operated, and he survived until the following day, then died. Harbor detectives are working backward from that moment to figure out what happened to him.

He had just recently moved back to San Pedro from Texas.

Anyone with tips, including anonymous ones, is asked to give the detectives a call, or send an email. (310) 522-2036 or 21881@lapd.lacity.org.

Robert Jones, 27

Robert Jones, 27, a black man, was shot in the neck and killed in the parking lot of the CVS Pharmacy at Crenshaw Boulevard and Coliseum in LAPD's Southwest Division at about 2 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 18.

A large group of people had gathered in the parking lot, hanging out at this popular cruising locale, said Det. Frank Alvelais of LAPD South Bureau homicide. Two groups of women began fighting, possibly over male attention, said detectives. Jones tried to intervene and break up the fight. Friends of the women set upon him in retaliation, beat him, then shot him and tried to escape in a black Hummer.

Quick work by LAPD patrol officers made sure they didn't succeed. Two officers patrolling nearby heard the shots, and broadcast a reasonably detailed bulletin about the suspects on police radio right away. That allowed LAPD 77th Street Division Officers Jeff Wolman, Steve Sainz, Dave Ross and Michael Hernandez to spot the fleeing Hummer and pull it over. They arrested two black men and a black young woman under 18. Guns were also seized. The suspects are in custody. Extra patrols had been assigned to Crenshaw that night because of the cruising problem.

Jones was a working man with no criminal history, detectives said.

Mario Sepulveda, 29

Mario Sepulveda, 29, a Latino man, was shot multiple times in an alley off Grand Street near Oliver in San Pedro at about 4:20 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 17. He was taken to UCLA-Harbor hospital, where he died. LAPD Harbor Division detectives are investigating. He was a longshoreman and family man.

Anyone with tips, including anonymous ones, is asked to give LAPD Harbor detectives a call, or send an email, or anonymous email. (310) 522-2036 or 21881@lapd.lacity.org.

Jose Luis Estrada, 40

Jose Luis Estrada, 40, a Latino man, was killed at 4202 Downing Ave. in Baldwin Park on Wednesday, Nov. 14, when he ran after the suspects who had just killed his 14-year-old son Pedro.

Police said two Latino men or youths came up to Pedro at about 8:30 p.m. at the family home in the 4100 block and shot him, then ran. Jose Luis Estrada ran outside when he heard the shots. He found Pedro dying on the ground, saw the fleeing suspects and ran after them for about a block. They turned and attacked him as well, shooting the grief-stricken father, and then making their escape. Father and son died within an hour of each other.

Pedro Estrada, 14

Pedro Estrada, a 14-year-old Latino youth, was shot and killed minutes before his father Jose Luis Estrada, above, was also killed at 4134 Downing Ave. in Baldwin Park at about 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 14. Pedro died at 8:48 p.m.

Frankie Buelna, 61

Frankie Buelna, 61, a Latino man, died in the same double homicide as Enrique Sanchez, 26, below.

Both were caught in a shooting in the Characters Sports Bar at 276 E. First St. in Pomona on Tuesday, Nov. 13 at 9:27 p.m. Officers responding to a call of a shooting there found three men down inside the bar. Sanchez died at the scene and Buelna was airlifted to County-USC hospital, where he died from his wounds during or after surgery, at about 1:10 a.m. Nov. 14. A third victim is expected to survive. Daily Bulletin reports

Enrique Sanchez, 26

Enrique Sanchez, 26, a Latino man, was killed in the same double homicide that took the life of Frankie Buelna, 61, above. He was hit at least four times and died at 9:30 p.m.

Adrian Cabral, 17

Adrian Cabral, a 17-year-old Latino youth, was shot in the chest and flank at 633 Lancaster Blvd. at about noon on Tuesday, Nov. 13. He was taken to a hospital, where he died. More to come.