Los Angeles News Blog

A man was fatally shot in the parking lot of a North Hollywood Sears department store on November 18. The 8:45 p.m. shooting took place in the 6400 block of North Laurel Canyon Blvd close to Victory Blvd.

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Lt. Bryan Lium of the Los Angeles Police Department's North Hollywood Station, said the victim and the shooter - who were acquaintances - agreed to meet in the Sear's parking lot after an argument on the phone Wednesday. Later, in the parking lot, the two men resumed their fight and the victim was shot once in the neck with a semiautomatic handgun. According to eyewitness reports, the suspect drove off in a BMW 3-Series black 4-door sedan that had no license plate. The victim - who police say was in his 20's - was transported to a hospital and later died, Lium said. Anyone with information should contact the North Hollywood Division detectives at 818-623-4016.

A Korean store clerk was killed after he got into a verbal altercation with a customer on November 9. Young Lee, 62, was "pummeled with fists and elbows causing severe blunt head trauma," according to the coroner's office. According to police reports, Lee began arguing with his attacker's girlfriend first around 1:50 pm at the liquor store at 3300 Jefferson Boulevard.

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She left the store and then brought back her boyfriend who got into the physical altercation with Lee while customers watched. Lee's attacker was arrested at the scene. Anyone with information should contact South West division detectives at 213-952-6571.

A man who was shot while walking down the street with a friend in South LA November 10 has been identified as 24-year-old Mulindwa Traylor. Traylor was walking with a female companion when they were approached by another couple near 55th Street and Denker Avenue. The male shooter fired several rounds at Traylor striking him multiple times in the head and upper chest.

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Traylor was transported to a local hospital where he died of his injuries. Police are not sure whether the shooting was gang-related. Anyone with information should contact 77th Division detectives at 213-485-1385.

A man who was killed in what appears to be a drive-by shooting in Boyle Heights November 11 has been identified as 43-year-old Ademio Morales. Morales was fatally shot in the stomach near Union Pacific Avenue and La Puerta Street around 8:40 p.m.

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Anyone with information should contact Hollenbeck Division detectives at 323- 526-3679.

A man who was fatally shot in Boyle Heights November 12 has been identified as 51-year-old Armando Castaneda. Police officers received a radio call about 11 p.m. Thursday and found the body of Castaneda with a gunshot wound to the back of his head. Investigators say that Castaneda and his roommate may have gotten into a fight that escalated into the shooting inside their circa 1921 three-bedroom home in the 2600 block of Michigan Avenue. According to Trulia, a real estate website, the house sold in 2002 for $159,000.

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The investigation is continuing. Anyone with information should contact Hollenbeck Division detectives at (323) 526-3679.

A man was leaving a grocery market when he was gunned down. Jermaine Tillman, 30, was shot in the neck at 7 p.m. outside Young's Junior Market at 701 East Manchester Avenue near Stanford Avenue November 7. According to police reports, Tillman was walking in the parking lot of the market when a light colored four-door sedan pulled up alongside him and fired several times.

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Tillman was transported to a local hospital where he died 7 days later on November 12. Police say the shooting was gang-related. So far, there are no suspects. Anyone with information contact should contact 77th Division detectives at 213-485-1385.

A teen was shot to death in an alleyway November 2. William Charles McKillian Jr., 19, appeared to be on foot in the alley when he was shot multiple times around 3:30 p.m. in the 600 block of Westminster Avenue.

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It is unclear whether McKillian was shot by one suspect or several suspects. Anyone with information should contact Pacific Division detectives at 310-482-6316.

A man who was fatally stabbed on October 31 has been identified as 36-year-old Eric Acosta. Acosta was stabbed in the chest after a verbal argument around 2:30 a.m. near Figueroa Street and Avenue 61.

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Acosta was taken to a nearby hospital where he died four days later on November 3. Anyone with information should contact Northeast division detectives at 213-847-4261.

A 53-year-old man who was killed after an argument with another resident of a boarding house near the Convention Center has been identified as 53-year-old Gil Deleon. According to police reports, the killer allegedly attacked Deleon with a "edged weapon" - stabbing him multiple times in the upper torso November 2.

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Deleon was apparently attacked in the Catholic Kolping House's hallway about 6:48 p.m. located at 1225 South Union Avenue. The 50-year-old suspect and the victim were longtime residents of the boarding house. The suspect, who police believe may have been drinking, was taken into custody shortly after the knife attack. Anyone with information should contact Rampart Division detectives at 213-484-3400.

A 25-year-old man was killed in a drive-by shooting while working on a parked car in South Los Angeles November 6. Wilhelm Adolphus Ramclam was gunned down around 3:45 p.m. Friday as he worked on his car, which was parked curbside in the 700 block of 73rd Street at McKinley Avenue.

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Ramclan was taken to a hospital and died a few hours later. Police do not know whether the shooting was gang-related. Anyone with information should contact 77th Division detectives at 213-485-1383.

A 20-year-old man gunned down his 16-year-old girlfriend in Lincoln Heights, and then killed himself November 6. Juan Carlos Mendez shot his girlfriend Maria Valderrama in the back of the head about 8:35 p.m. after an argument in the 2400 block of Daly Street.

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He then ran off, but was found by police in an alley about a block away with a fatal self-inflicted gunshot wound to his chest. He was taken to a nearby hospital but died a few hours later. Anyone with information should contact 77th Division detectives at 213-485-1383.

A man was shot by Los Angeles Police Department officers in an exchange of gunfire after a short pursuit earlier this week. Julian Nolasco, 25, died the following day on November 4 in a nearby hospital.

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According to police reports, Nolasco, who was carrying a handgun, was wounded about 10 a.m. Tuesday on Avalon Boulevard near 59th Place, but he stayed inside the car for about two hours as Special Weapons and Tactics team officers surrounded him. Police apparently tried to stop the car, which they believed was stolen, a few blocks earlier. Two men got out and were nabbed by police. But the driver took off. The shooting occurred a few minutes later. No police officers were wounded in the early morning exchange. Nolasco was shot multiple times.

The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating the deaths of a married couple who were found dead inside their home on November 2. The deaths of Craig and Donna Edwards are being investigated as a murder suicide.

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According to police reports, patrol officers were called to the 7900 block of McLaren Avenue, near Fallbrook Avenue around 10 a.m. after coworkers discovered the bodies of 66-year-old Donna Edwards and her 62-year-old husband. The coworkers had apparently become concerned after Donna failed to show up for work. The coworkers went to her home and began checking with neighbors, one of which had a key to the Edwards' home. In the home, they found Donna in the master bedroom. She had been shot to death. Her husband was dead on the kitchen floor. It is unclear how Craig Edwards died. Several weapons were recovered from the house, and detectives are still investigating the motive for this incident. Anyone with information should call Topanga division detectives at 818-756-4820.

The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating the deaths of a married couple who were found dead inside their home on November 2. The deaths of Craig and Donna Edwards are being investigated as a murder suicide.

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According to police reports, patrol officers were called to the 7900 block of McLaren Avenue, near Fallbrook Avenue around 10 a.m. after coworkers discovered the bodies of 66-year-old Donna Edwards and her 62-year-old husband. The coworkers had apparently become concerned after Donna failed to show up for work. The coworkers went to her home and began checking with neighbors, one of which had a key to the Edwards' home. In the home, they found Donna in the master bedroom. She had been shot to death. Her husband was dead on the kitchen floor. It is unclear how Craig Edwards died. Several weapons were recovered from the house, and detectives are still investigating the motive for this incident. Anyone with information should call Topanga division detectives at 818-756-4820.

A man who was found fatally stabbed in a hotel room in Woodland Hills has been identified as 56-year-old Michael Conoscenti. Conoscenti was discovered in his hotel room at a Comfort Inn in the 20100 block of Ventura Boulevard at 9:30 am October 27.

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Anyone with information should contact LAPD's Topanga Division at at 818-756-4820.

A man who was fatally shot in Pacoima November 1 has been identified as 21-year-old Daniel Orozco. Police responded to a 911 call for service at 12:48 a.m. and found a woman who had been shot near San Fernando Road and Filmore Street.

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Police soon discovered Orozco dead at the scene. He had been fatally shot. The woman was taken to a nearby hospital and is expected to live. Police have yet to establish a motive for the shooting. Anyone with information should contact Foothill Division detectives at 818-834-3115.

Two neighbors are dead after a drunken early morning brawl October 31. According to police reports, both men had been drinking and the argument turned deadly around 3 a.m. in the 100 block of East Avenue 45, alongside the Pasadena (110) Freeway in
Highland Park.

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Apparently, one man stabbed the other, and then returned back inside his house. A few minutes later, a friend of the first victim avenged his friend's stabbing by attacking and stabbing the other man. The two men, who died of their injuries, were identified as Javier Mejia, 43, and Salvador Ayala, 26. The third man is still at large. An unrelated stabbing occurred about two miles away on North Figueroa Street near Avenue 60 around 2:45 am, but no one was reported dead. Anyone with information should contact Northeast Division detectives at 213-485-2566.

A man who was fatally shot in a Rampart neighborhood has been identified as 20-year-old Byron Maldonado. The fatal shooting was reported about 11:30 p.m. in the 500 block of North Alexandria Avenue near Clinton Street October 29.

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Police officers found Maldonado with a gunshot wound to his chest. He was taken to a nearby hospital where he died of his injuries. A second victim was hospitalized with gunshot wounds to the face. Police searched the neighborhood with trained dogs for several hours after the shooting. Two helicopters also assisted in the search. A possible suspect was taken into custody. Anyone with information should contact Rampart Division detectives at 213-484-3400.

A man who was found with a gun shot wound to his chest in an underground parking lot in West Los Angeles has been identified as 65-year-old former multimillionaire real estate financier Richard Traweek.

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Traweek was discovered fatally wounded in the 11700 block of Goshen Avenue just before midnight October 26. In the 1980s, Traweek raised more than $120 million from investors in dozens of real estate partnerships before he found himself in legal trouble and financial ruin. Anyone with information should contact West Los Angeles detectives at 310-444-1581.

A teenager was fatally shot in Van Nuys October 23. According to police reports, Robert Rodriguez, 14, was shot last Friday around 3:50 p.m. in the 15400 block of Vanowen Street, near Peach Avenue.

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Officers responded and found Rodriguez with a gunshot wound to the head. Police are unclear of the motive but are looking for two Hispanic males between 17 and 20 years old. Anyone with information should contact Van Nuys Division detectives at 818-374-9500.

CBS2

Murder Victim: Michael Dixon Jr.

​A woman already accused of killing her 5-year-old son was charged today with a second count of murder involving her 16-month-old son. Michael Dixon, Jr., who was shot multiple times last week by his mother La Tonya Ann Dixon, died October 23 after being taken off life support.

Los Angeles County Prosecutors also added a second charge of assault on a child causing death as well as a special circumstance allegation of multiple murder that makes the 26-year-old mother eligible for the death penalty.

CBS2

Murder Victim: Christian Dixon

​Dixon is charged with killing her 5-year-old son, Christian, and toddler, Michael, at her
apartment in the 7800 block of Gramercy Place about 8:30 a.m. Oct. 17, about 30 minutes after calling 911 to report that she had shot her kids. Patrol officers said Dixon was standing on her second floor balcony and waving a gun around. She asked police to shoot her. She was quoted as saying: "I've wasted my life!''

Police were able to get her to put the gun down, before they rushed her. Police found the children in the living room of the one-bedroom apartment. One neighbor told the LA Times that Dixon was heard around 4:30 a.m. yelling "I'm tired. I'm tired.''

Dixon is scheduled to be arraigned Nov. 2 at the criminal court building in downtown Los Angeles. Anyone with information should contact LAPD's Abused Child Unit at 213-486-0570.

The Los Angeles Police Department is asking for the public's help in tracking down the shooter who killed a 41-year-old man delivering food to his girlfriend in Wilmington October 25.

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Jose Augusto Caceros, 41, was dropping off some food at his girlfriend's home in the 400 block of North Gulf Avenue, near Wilmington Boulevard, when a man carrying a gun shot him around 1:15 a.m. Sunday. The shooter immediately left the area, leaving Caceros on his girlfriend's doorstep. He was taken to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead. Anyone with information should contact Harbor Division detectives at 310-726-7881.

A man was killed in Northridge on October 18 in what appears to be a case of mistaken identity. According to police, two groups of men were yelling at each other near the southeast corner of White Oak Avenue and Lassen Street.

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When one group realized that the other group was carrying guns, several of them ran across the street to take cover at a nearby church. One of the men took cover inside a liquor store on the southeast corner of the street. The men toting the handguns were then seen leaving the area in a silver Honda Accord EX.

Shortly afterward, three men, who had nothing to do with the earlier scuffle, walked into the liquor store, which the man from the previous group ran into. As they left the store and began walking across White Oak Avenue in the crosswalk, they were confronted by the men carrying guns.

They ran off, but 21-year-old Patrick Shillings had been shot several times and only made it a few hundred feet before falling to the ground and dying of his injuries. The shooters drove off in the same silver Honda Accord EX. Anyone with information about the shooting should contact Devonshire Division detectives at 818-832-0537.

A man was shot and killed on October 17 by Los Angeles Police Department officers in what could be a case of "suicide by cop."

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According to police reports, the man called 911 to report that he had killed his girlfriend shortly before 3 am on Saturday. Police went to 3107 Midvale Avenue near Queensland Street and found the man with a gun.

The man kept going in and out of his home with the gun in his hand. He was shot after he pointed the gun at officers. The girlfriend, who was found uninjured inside, told police that her boyfriend, a construction worker, was upset over being unemployed. There is no word yet on the identity of the man. Anyone with information should contact Pacific Division detectives at 310-482-6334.

A 26-year-old mother who allegedly shot her 5-year-old and 1-year-old sons, killing one, was in jail in lieu of more than $1million bail. Her youngest son is still in critical condition.

CBS2

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La Tonya Dixon was taken into custody by police at her apartment in the 7800 block of Gramercy Place and arrested about 8:30 a.m. October 17 - about 30 minutes after she made a 911 call to report that she shot her two children.

Murder Victim: Christian Dixon

Patrol officers said Dixon was standing on her second floor balcony and waving a gun around. She asked police to shoot her. She was quoted as saying: ``I've wasted my life!''

CBS2

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Critically Wounded: Michael Dixon Jr.

Police were able to get her to put the gun down, before they rushed her. Police found the children in the living room of the one-bedroom apartment.

Her youngest son, Michael Dixon Jr, was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center with multiple gun shot wounds. Her oldest son, Christian, was found dead at the scene.

One neighbor told the LA Times that Dixon was heard around 4:30 a.m. yelling ``I'm tired. I'm tired.''

A man who was fatally stabbed at a downtown Los Angeles hotel has been identified as 58-year-old Tommy Jackson. According to police reports, Jackson and his attacker began arguing around 9 p.m. on October 15 at the hotel in the 800 block of East 7th Street.

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Jackson was stabbed multiple times with two knives. He was taken to a hospital, where he later died. The attacker was arrested at the scene. It was unclear whether the two men were guests at the hotel. Anyone with information should contact Newton Division detectives at 323-846-5363.

A teenager is set to be arraigned today in connection with the fatal shooting of 4-month-old Andrew Garcia.

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Victim: Andrew Garcia

Garcia was fatally shot in Van Nuys September 27. The early morning shooting also wounded a man and a pregnant woman. According to police reports, Anna Contreras, 28, was feeding Garcia inside a car parked in front of a party in the 14300 block of Kittridge Street while Garcia's parents were standing nearby talking to a group of people.

Two men began arguing with the group. One of the two pulled out a shotgun and fired six times at the group and car, hitting Eric Ramirez, 18, who was standing near the car, Contreras, and Garcia, who was shot in the head.

Garcia was airlifted to UCLA Medical Center, where he died a short time later. Contreras, who is pregnant, was in stable condition. Police say Ramirez walked to nearby Valley Presbyterian Hospital.

Bail for Landa is recommended at $9 million.

A man who was killed in a robbery gone bad in South L.A. has been identified as 28-year-old Reginald Hendrix Jr. According to police, Hendrix Jr. was attempting a robbery when he was chased by the man he intended to rob. Hendrix Jr. and his intended victim got into a scuffle and the latter was shot. The shooting occurred at 9 a.m. around 74th and Main streets.


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It is unclear whether the robbery attempt occurred on the street, at a home, or a business. Hendrix Jr. was transported to the hospital where he died of his injuries. Anyone with information about the October 8 shooting should contact 77th Division detectives at (213) 485-4175.

The Los Angeles Police Department is searching today for two men involved in a fight that killed a Pacoima man outside a North Hollywood nightclub. According to police reports, Juan Guijarro-Ramirez, 44, got into a fight with the two men at the Hacienda Corona nightclub at 11700 Victory Boulevard, near Lankershim Boulevard, about 12:30 a.m. on Saturday, October 11.

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It is unclear exactly what killed Guijarro-Ramirez, who died at the scene. Earlier reports stated that he was struck in the head with an object. Police do not believe the attack was gang-related. Anyone with information should contact North Hollywood detectives 818-623-4045.

A man was killed in a robbery gone bad in South L.A. today. According to police, a man was attempting a robbery when he was chased by the man he intended to rob. The robbery suspect and his intended victim got into a scuffle and the latter was shot. The shooting occurred at 9 a.m. around 74th and Main streets.

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It is unclear whether the robbery attempt occurred on the street, at a home, or a business. The suspect was transported to the hospital where he died of his injuries. Anyone with information about the October 8 shooting should contact 77th Division detectives at (213) 485-4175.