Photo: Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Detectives say these 2 men may be responsible for the murders of 2 men and 1 woman over a span of 4 years.
A few weeks ago, I met Detective Ray Lugo at the scene of the most recent murder, the front entrance of the East LA Courthouse. Lugo says Amanda Lopez was homeless and lived in a homeless camp outside of Supervisor Hilda Solis’ Field Office with about 25 other people. On April 22, 2018, around 2:40 AM, Lugo says surveillance video shows a man walking from tent to tent until he comes upon the last tent in the row; the man pushes a gun through the tent opening and fires a gun. Lugo says the man then gets into a silver PT Cruiser where another man was waiting behind the wheel; the 2 drove away on Civic Center Drive.
The following week Lugo had me meet him at the scene of another murder, this time in Commerce at the intersection of Telegraph and Arizona. Lugo says on February 10th, 2014, at around 10:50 PM, Jesse Avalos received a phone call from a friend who needed a battery jump. Then, a few hours later, at around 3:00 the following morning, the East LA Sheriff’s Station got a 911 call about a man sitting in a blue SUV parked on the wrong side of street with the hood up. When deputies arrived, they reported seeing Avalos suffering from a gunshot wound still in his seat with a seatbelt on.
From the same spot Lugo tells me about the next murder. July 6th, 2015, Eddie Robles was near the intersection of Eagle Street and Humphreys Avenue; he and another man were having a physical fight. Immediately following the fight, the man jumped over a wrought iron fence, walked over to Robles’ SUV and punctured the tires. The man and his buddy left, but a short time later returned and shot Robles numerous times in the upper torso. The shooter and his accomplice were last seen driving eastbound on Eagle Street in a light green vehicle.
Lugo says there’s evidence all the dead people had a connection with the shooter, possibly with a romantic nexus. He says earlier this year they were able to tie the murders together through witness statements and ballistics.
Lugo says all the murders happened in the East LA area and believes the shooter and accomplice also live in the East LA area. Lugo also added he thinks the shooter may be responsible for a 4th murder, but he wouldn’t elaborate.