Boyle Heights: Armando Castaneda, 51

Armando Castaneda, a 51-year-old Latino, was shot Tuesday, Nov. 10, at his home in the 2600 block of Michigan Avenue in Boyle Heights, authorities said.

Castaneda had been in a monthlong dispute with his roommate, Albino Pena, a 53-year-old black man, said Los Angeles Police Det. DeWayne Fields. The two had apparently quarreled over privacy issues, and about 8 p.m. on the day of the shooting, Pena allegedly pulled out a gun and shot Castaneda in the back of the head.

Fields said Pena then left town and went to Las Vegas, leaving Castaneda at their residence. Pena returned on Nov. 12 and called 911 to report the crime. He apparently told detectives he turned himself in because he wanted to do the right thing. Coroner's officials listed Nov. 12 as his date of death, although it was unclear how long Castaneda lived after he was shot.

Pena was arrested Nov. 12. Jane Robinson, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney's office, said prosecutors are charging him with one count of murder.

-- Anthony Pesce

Follow The Homicide Report on Twitter @latimeshomicide.

Map: The location where Armando Castaneda was shot. Click for the Boyle Heights Mapping L.A. page to learn more about the demographics of the neighborhood.

Comments

[Dee]

As im reading these homicides it looks like there are alot of erros on the race of the victim/suspect....alot of them should be latino not black. I know this because most of the last names are latino last names...it should get fixed.

[mixed up hispanic]

Dee,
Wow You KNOW this because the last names are latino? I didn't know we (yes I am hispanic) had a rule about which one of us is hispanic and which one of us is not based on his or her last name. For the records I am also Italian, my last name is most often associated with Armenian's SO what does that make me? I'm sure some where in the blood line I must have Armenian in me but I'm hispanic...so again based on your "knowing" how about fixing me?

[Anthony Pesce]

Dee and mixed up hispanic,

I wanted to respond to your comments about how we identify race in Homicide Report posts. We receive a weekly listing of homicides from the Los Angeles County Corner's office, which we use to identify the name, age, race, location and manner of death for all of our posts.

We rely on the corner's determination of race, and simply republish the coroner's ruling. Ed Winter, the assistant chief of the coroner's office, has told me that coroner's investigators use a number of resources to determine race. Often they will check police records, passports, or DMV records for the deceased. If race has not already been officially recorded they will ask family.

Anthony Pesce
The Los Angeles Times