Sun Valley: Edith Moreno Gomez, 11

Edith Moreno Gomez, an 11-year-old, Latina, died on Wednesday, Sept. 2 after her throat was slashed in the 7800 block of Irvine Avenue in Sun Valley, authorities said.

[Edith's age was initially reported as 12 but, according to coroner's officials, her 12th birthday would have been in October.] Her sister, Diana Moreno, a 16-year-old Latina, was killed in the same incident.

On Friday, Sept. 4 their mother, Antonia Gomez, 38, was arrested on suspicion of killing her daughters.

The following is an excerpt from the Times report on the killings: Troubles had mounted for mother suspected of killing two daughters

Edith Moreno was only 12 years old, but last week the Sun Valley girl had a serious question for her friend and next-door neighbor Karina Valdez.

What happens when we die?

Karina and her parents are Jehovah's Witnesses. Taking her Bible, 12-year-old Karina explained that death was like going to sleep and waiting to be resurrected by God.

"I didn't really think anything about it because we were teaching her about our other beliefs," said Karina's mother, Irene Bell. "Edith was just a wonderful, happy child. She was the biggest tomboy. She never complained about anything. "

-- Hector Becerra

Follow the Homicide Report on Twitter @latimeshomicide.

Top photo: Students from Grant High School in Van Nuys gather outside the Sun Valley house where the throats of their classmate, Diana Moreno, and her sister Edith were slashed. Bottom photo: Edith Gomez, 11 (Stefano Paltera / For The TImes )

Sun Valley: Diana Moreno Gomez, 16

Diana Moreno Gomez, a 16-year-old Latina, died on Wednesday, Sept. 2 after her throat was slashed in the 7800 block of Irvine Avenue in Sun Valley, authorities said.

Her sister, Edith Moreno Gomez, an 11-year-old Latina, was killed in the same incident. [Edith's age was initially given as 12 but, according to coroner's officials,her 12th birthday would have been in October.]

On Friday, Sept. 4 their mother, Antonia Gomez, 38, was arrested on suspicion of killing her daughters.

The following is an excerpt from the full Times story on the killings: Troubles had mounted for mother suspected of killing two daughters

Edith Moreno was only 12 years old, but last week the Sun Valley girl had a serious question for her friend and next-door neighbor Karina Valdez.

What happens when we die?

Karina and her parents are Jehovah's Witnesses. Taking her Bible, 12-year-old Karina explained that death was like going to sleep and waiting to be resurrected by God.

"I didn't really think anything about it because we were teaching her about our other beliefs," said Karina's mother, Irene Bell. "Edith was just a wonderful, happy child. She was the biggest tomboy. She never complained about anything. "

-- Hector Becerra

Follow the Homicide Report on Twitter @latimeshomicide.

Top photo: Students from Grant High School in Van Nuys gather outside the Sun Valley house where the throats of their classmate, Diana Moreno, and her sister Edith were slashed. Bottom photo: Diana Moreno, 16. Credit: Stefano Paltera / For The TImes

Dispatch: 'It's still a mystery why he was on that street'

Seventeen years ago, Akop Aduryan moved to Los Angeles from his native Armenia, hoping to make a better life for his young family.

His country was war torn and in economic shambles after the break-up of the Soviet Union. Together, he and his wife, Ruzanna, who was pregnant with their second child, decided to start over in America.

Nine days after they arrived, his wife gave birth to another son. They shared a small three-bedroom home in North Hollywood with 12 family members.

Aduryan, who had received two degrees in Armenia, worked making jewelry with his brother to support his family. After they moved into their own apartment, he and his brother worked together as mechanics. With money still tight, four years ago he took a second job as a night security guard.

Each weeknight his routine was the same. He would get home from his work as a mechanic around 6 p.m., take a short nap, then leave for his job as a security guard at 8 p.m. He would return home for roughly half an hour between 9 and 9:45 p.m., then leave again for work and come home at midnight, said his older son Chris, 18.

On July 23, Aduryan followed his usual pattern. He arrived home about 9 p.m. on his break from guarding outside an insurance company building at Victory Boulevard and Laurel Canyon Boulevard in North Hollywood. Forty-five minutes later he went back to work.

What happened next makes no sense to his wife and sons.

About 11 p.m., Aduryan got into a heated argument with a group of Armenian men in a somewhat secluded area in the 7500 block of Goodland Avenue in Sun Valley – along the back fence of the Charles Leroy Lowman Special Education Center, a school for special needs children.

He was more than two miles from his security guard post.

Sun Valley: Akop Aduryan, 46

Akop Aduryan, a 46-year-old man whom the Los Angeles County coroner's office identified as Armenian, was shot several times July 23 in the 7500 block of Goodland Avenue in Sun Valley.

Los Angeles Police Det. Kirk Patrick said witnesses told police that Aduryan, of Van Nuys, was involved in an argument with a few other Armenian men when he was shot. Patrick did not know what the argument was about or if Aduryan knew the men who shot him.

Patrick said the shooting happened in a dark, secluded area at 11:10 p.m. Witnesses were unable to provide descriptions of the suspects, and Patrick said he knows of no motive in the killing and has few leads to go on.

-- Anthony Pesce in North Hollywood

Photo: A street memorial for Akop Aduryan, a 46-year-old Armenian man who was shot in the 7500 block of Goodland Avenue in North Hollywood. Credit: Anthony Pesce / Los Angeles Times

Sun Valley: Filemon Cortez, 31

Filemon Cortez, a 31-year-old Latino, was hit over the head with a bottle. He was attacked at the Corona Motel, in the 11700 block of Saticoy Street in Sun Valley, on June 7, according to the Los Angeles County coroner's office.

According to the Los Angeles Police Department, Cortez was struck during an attempted robbery. He was taken to a hospital and underwent surgery to treat his wound, but he died June 9.

Juan Carlos Huezo, 22, was arrested in connection with the killing and is set to be arraigned July 2, according to the LAPD.

-- Anthony Pesce