2 suspects named in Sun Valley grandson killing

 

Los Angeles police released the names Monday of two men arrested in connection with the killing of a 24-year-old man who was trying to help his grandfather who was being robbed outside his Sun Valley home.

Rene Ramirez, 29, of Mission Hills, and Evin Adonis Ortiz, 22, of Valley Glen, were booked into jail with no bail for investigation of the Jan. 9 attack that killed Danilo Morales, who was shot in the head and collapsed in the street.

Police were seeking a third suspect, authorities said.

Officials said they had recovered a late-'90s model white Mitsubishi Montero that fit the description of the one used by the suspects to flee. 

Morales was gunned down while attempting to help his grandfather, who was being robbed outside his home on the 8100 block of Coldwater Canyon. One of the suspects fired his gun from the vehicle as Morales chased them.

His grandfather, Manuel Flores, 68, wasn't injured in the incident.

Police officials told The Times that Ramirez, whose nickname is "Demon," was featured in a 2005 article in the newspaper on gangsters who had reformed through religion.

In the story, Ramirez, who came to the U.S. illegally from Guatemala with his mother, said he'd pulled away from the gang after being shot in the stomach in a drive-by shooting. The injury left him forced to wear a colostomy bag.

"My battle is spiritual," he said then. "But I know God will help me."

Law enforcement officials say both Ramirez and Ortiz had previously been deported.

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-- Andrew Blankstein and Rick Rojas

Photo: Manuel Flores, whose grandson was killed Jan. 9. Credit. Sam Quinones / Los Angeles Times