Highland Park: Eric Acosta, 36

Eric Acosta, a 36-year-old Latino, was stabbed Oct. 31 at North Figueroa Street and Avenue 61 in Highland Park. He died on Tuesday, Nov. 3, at a hospital, according to Los Angeles County coroner's officials.

Ed Winter, a spokesman for the coroner's office, said Acosta and another victim were stabbed about 2:29 a.m. on Halloween. The second victim, who was not identified, survived the attack.

-- Anthony Pesce

Follow The Homicide Report on Twitter @latimeshomicide.

Map: The location where Eric Acosta was attacked. Click for the Highland Park Mapping L.A. page to learn more about the demographics of the neighborhood.

Comments

[GP]

Note: The map is coming up wrong: It's *Ave* 61 in Highland Park, not 61st Street.

[Megan Garvey]

GP-- Thanks for the heads up. The map is now fixed.

Megan Garvey
Los Angeles Times

[crys]

eric acosta nor the man who survived the "attack" were not the victims, they were the attackers. please investigate more befor posting. This case still has alot to come out.

[syscom3]

crys, how do you know about this? Have you reported what you know to the police? Lets hear the story.

[crys]

the police have both sides of the story, but yet still have one innocent person in jail.because the innitial attacker is lying trough his teeth. We will fight this case till the end and the truth will prevail.god willing. When it is my turn to be questioned i will give my staement

[hurting]

crys, how can you say they were the attackers when then had no weapons but yet you think the one with the knife who did all the harm is so innocent (someone who appeartently knows how to use a knife) he needs to rot in hell.

[thelad]

Crys.....The truth will come out and the murderer will be found guilty of his crime. When did it become okay to plunge a knife into and unarmed man's heart, as well as savagely attacking another man with the same knife? I believe I know the type of person you are and they type of company you keep. Typical gang logic. By the way, next post why don't you consider using spell check?

[Melissa]

Due to the cowardly act of this so called "innocent" person it has left a family devastated. An elderly mother who just lost her husband in August now left to mourn the loss of her youngest son. Sisters, brothers, nieces, nephews all left with a huge hole in their heart with one question, WHY?!

What did Eric do to deserve such a fate? Did he bring this upon himself? NO! He acted in a manner he was taught all his life. He stood up for what was right. He came to the defense of a woman he had known since high school, who was being assaulted by her boyfriend. The VICTIMS were trying to help this cowards girlfriend and this belligerently drunk person ran to his car, grabbed a knife and went after two innocent people as they were trying to leave. The truth has come out, I hope this person rots in prison for the rest of his life and Eric's family will do everything possible to make sure this happens.

[Nicole]

How can someone be called innocent, yet the two who were the supposed attackers both ended up in the hospital. One horribly wounded, and the other dead, murdered by such a cowardly act. A horrid assualt on one man's life leaving a family shattered, and yet you, "CRYS", believe you have the right to post things that are only going to enrage and hurt that family more. Obviously your morals lie with that man RIGHTFULLY inprisioned, what a horrible person you both must be to be able to A) pull out a knife on someone you don't know, LEARN HOW TO FIGHT THE RIGHT WAY instead of being too chicken and resorting to such extremes, and B) sit there trying to defend a man who is capable of such a crime, whatever your affiliation to the MURDERER may be, whether he be your family member or not, what is wrong is wrong, and no one should ever have to go through what this family is dealing with because of such a dishonorable person and act.

[syscom3]

Melissa, it sounds like the police know who the person is who wielded the knife. Sooner or later, hes going to get arrested.

Too bad the LA Times cant follow up on the murders listed here.

[diva94]

All I know is an innocent young man, whom I've known more than half my life and is no longer with us physically. He was the kindest person and would never hurt anyone. He was always known as a peacemaker, an original Libra. "crys" you don't know what you are talking about.

[crys]

ok "thelad" no we r not at all affiliated with gangs. We actually have never been.

melissa you are probly a family member i am very sorry that this tradgedy has happend. No one ever deserves to loose a loved one and everyone involved in this is sorry that someone did pass.

ok so i have read all of your post and dont get me wrong i am definately sad and hurt that someone did die. and my and my family's prayers go out to that family. i am not here to argue with anyone we are not the jury in the case. the accused is one of my family members and there were many witnesses present at the time this happend. This country has what you call a self defense law. it gives you the right to defend your self with almost anymeans possible when your life is endangered. And the way i see it if two guys were stomping on my head,pelvis,back,legs etc.. that would give me the right to defend my self. also to respond to the part about them helping this so called girlfriend. ya sure she was really getting abused. thats why she got right in front of eric and javier and told them PLEASE STOP, YOU GUYS DONT WANNA DO THIS". and just a note they werent an item they meet a couple of weeks prior to this horrible incident. She will also be a witness at the trial.. also before i go just for thought the man jailed did try to defuse this situation before these two men attacked him. But since one of them felt he wasent being talked to in a respectfull manner they thought it was ok to start beating on him to the point that if they didnt stop they would have killed him..that sounds like self defense. but like i said we are not the jury. it is never right to kill, and honestly that was never meant to happen, that fatal stab came as eric was trying to again attack this man

i did not post my comments to hurt anyone's family. we are heartfelt people and it may be hard for you to see that but he is our family and we will defend his name and character.As you will also. He has never been involved in anything what so ever in his whole life.

[thelad]

As previously stated, the law will run it's course. There will be many witnesses to the crime, and they will tell their story. You say that your family has never been involved in such a situation? Well that knife must have appeared out of thin air. Someone who willingly sticks a knife in someone's chest, and stabs another person multiple times, both of them unarmed, cannot be defended by someone who thinks the situation through. If it was self defense, why did the murderer flee? Sounds to me like he, and his family, think he was well within his legal right to murder someone. Even if it was an act of rage not normally expressed by him, it does not justify the extent of the violence perpetrated on the victims. Go ahead and try to rationalize in your head how the murderer was the victim. He will get what is coming to him, and unfortunately, he leaves several families in distress in his wake.

[crys]

what all of them did that night was not right by no means, and every family that is involved is hurting in some way. The trial will come and we will see what happends. ONLY GOD KNOWS THE TRUTH< AND ONLY HE WILL JUDGE US IN THE END thats all.

[lil Crys]

ok, I've read all the comments and you people have no idea what you're talking about...pure nonsense!! "Crys", who just so happens to be my relative, my self and my family have no ties or affiliation to gang members what so ever. First off I wanna point out that what is written in this article is totally off...the so called "murderer" is indeed the victim.
To "thelad" - you should learn to think before you write -- just because someone carries a knife...it doesn't mean that they are evil or gang affiliated. Plenty of people carry things to defend themselves, especially when they live in such rough neighborhoods. This situation is a perfect example of why he needed to carry it in the first place. To protect himself...plain and simple. You should also do a spell check ---please read back what you wrote and you will see that your spelling and grammar are all wrong lol.

I also am not here to upset anyone or argue and my family and I would never wish bad upon anyone. No family should have to go through that type of loss and my heart goes out to the family but you should also understand that their actions speak very loud and clear. If they are such kind people why would both men attack one. It makes you wonder who else have they attacked before...just because they felt that they were spoken to the wrong way. That is not the way civilized grown men should act.

To "Melissa" - you say that Eric acted in the manner from which he was brought up??? What is that, fight who ever you feel disrespects you???!! Now what type of person does that make him seem like? I'm sorry but not a very good one. Also, you really should get your facts checked because I can not fathom where you got your version of what happened. You are totally off and I really hope you are not spreading that ridiculous tale around.
I just want everyone to think ...hmmmm, what would be your reaction to getting severely beaten by not one but two people. I'm sure it would be to protect yourself because you of course would have no idea of how far your attacker is willing to go.
I will finish by saying that I know for a fact that the man imprisoned is innocent and he should not be where he is right now...he should be with his family, the people who love him and know the truth of the kind of person he really is...he is one of the best people I know and we will continue to stick by him until he is out and free where he belongs.

[thelad]

lil crys,

Someone who kills and maims is a victim? I think you put "lil" thought into your post. Certainly defending your family member, but with little facts on which to base your reasoning. Get used to the murderer being behind bars. Thankfully, there are a few honest, impartial, and decent people who will be telling what they witnessed. While you are visiting your murderous family member in his cage, we will be visiting a gravesite.

[BROR]

What transpired was an unfortunate incident in which an argument escalated, resulting in calamity for two families. All parties involved had a direct impact on the conclusion of that unfortunate night. In my personal opinion a fair fight would be classified as a one on one confrontation, as opposed to a one on two. Also, in any incident loss of human life is regrettable, painful, and creates a huge loss in the hearts of loved ones. To pass judgment on individuals or their actions without direct knowledge of ones character would be premature. For every action there is always an opposite reaction, and unfortunately in most cases it’s others who feel the pain.

[crys]

My thought is, He might in fact do some time for the way he defended himself yes. But he did the right thing by turning himself in. After that he will be able to live a normal life and that all will be due to the fact that it was an act of self defense. You people are going off the story of one person who is willing to say anything so that the life lost can be blamed on anyone but him. When indeed he was the one that started the whole situation that night. And deep in his heart he knows this and he will live with that guilt for the rest of his life, he will be tortured in his mind until he becomes the bigger man and tells the truth. I know you family and friends are hurting. But just because you all feel pain dose not give an excuse for you to be oblivious to the true facts of this case. But obviously people like you who judge people and assume that they are "gang related" without have ever been able to set your eyes on or have some kind of communication with the person that is incarcerated, have a very limited span of thought.

[FMJ]

crys,

You say that the two attackers" brutally beat your family member, and if they did not stop when they did, they probably would have killed him. If this is the case, how does one person that was beaten the way you say he was, have the energy to get up and brutally attack two men, killing one and severely injuring the other. Sounds to me like you do not have the correct version of the story. Our family is going off eye witness accounts of the owners of the establishment who witnessed this act first hand. Maybe your family member is a good person and this was not in his character, but the fact remains he did indeed kill a man and had the other man not defended himself properly, this would e a double homocide. Self defense to me is doing what you have to do to get yourself out of a situation, I cannot envision a scenario where I would attack two unarmed men with the intent to kill them in the name of "self defense." There is probably alot that both families do not know about this night and in all likelyhood will never find out. Your family member is locked up and in the proper place just based upon the simple fact "HE KILLED ANOTHER MAN!"

[Melissa]

lil crys

If it so hard for your "lil" brain to fathom where I got my information maybe your family should visit the establishment where this happened to speak with the owners. It seems like your family could use a dose of REALITY.

Eric's family will follow this case to the bitter end to ensure this man receives the maximum sentence. I hope he rots in prison for the rest of his life and is tormented every day for taking an innocent mans life.

[RIP.ERIC]

CRYS & LIL CRYS

You say this MURDER was useing selfdefence??? Ok, Why was he assulting a women that he met a few weeks earlier? What type of man would do that? And you said Eric and his friend beat him up so bad that he used selfdefence by having the RAGE to Kill Eric and stabbed his friend multiple times. You said that the fight continued cause the MURDER did not show them RESPECT!!! Well the MURDER did not show his date any respect and you are also NOT showing any RESPECT to Erics family by saying...

"He might in fact do some time for the way he defended himself yes. But he did the right thing by turning himself in. After that he will be able to live a normal life and that all will be due to the fact that it was an act of self defense. You people are going off the story of one person who is willing to say anything so that the life lost can be blamed on anyone but him. When indeed he was the one that started the whole situation that night. And deep in his heart he knows this and he will live with that guilt for the rest of his life, he will be tortured in his mind until he becomes the bigger man and tells the truth. I know you family and friends are hurting. But just because you all feel pain dose not give an excuse for you to be oblivious to the true facts of this case. But obviously people like you who judge people and assume that they are "gang related" without have ever been able to set your eyes on or have some kind of communication with the person that is incarcerated, have a very limited span of thought."

How can you say that he will live a normal life and be with his family and love ones??? That is VERY DISRESPECTFUL of you to say that!!!! Eric is in a COFFIN!!! How are we to hug, give him kisses and tell him how much we all love him? You just slapped all of us in the face!!! What type of person are you? Oh that's right...the one who is going to stand by the MURDER!! I hope you buy alot of stamps, envalopes, paper and pencils because he is going to need it.

What gives you the right to judge Eric??? You tell everyone here to stop judging the Murder but you are judging Eric. Do you know Eric and his friend? Did you see what they looked like when they were getting stabbed? But yet you say we have not seen what the MURDER looks like? Don't worry, we will when we go to all the court dates!

Why did he run before the cop got there? If it was selfdefence like you say, he should of stood there to tell his side of the story. That is not a man, that is a coward!