Local News in Brief : Pacoima Man Slain Trying to Stop Fight

A Pacoima man was fatally stabbed while trying to stop a fight between gang members who had attended a fund-raising party to help pay for the burial of a fellow gang member, police said Monday. Two teen-agers were arrested after the slaying.

Alex Rivera, 25, was stabbed repeatedly at 3:15 a.m. Sunday outside a home in the 9900 block of Haddon Avenue, Detective Al Ferrand said.

Rivera, who was not a gang member, had come to the aid of his nephew who was being beaten by members of his own gang, Ferrand said. When Rivera tried to stop the attack, two of the gang members turned on him and stabbed him, Ferrand said.

Authorities were not able to learn why Rivera’s nephew was being attacked.

Rivera was taken by friends to Pacifica Hospital of the Valley in Sun Valley but was dead on arrival. After the killing, police arrested a juvenile, 17, and Eddie Solorzano, 18, both Pacoima gang members, on suspicion of murder, Ferrand said.

Ferrand said the stabbing took place after a fund-raising party in which money was collected to help pay for the burial of Robert Garcia, 26, a gang member who was shot to death Oct. 3 in a home in the 9900 block of O’Melveny Avenue, which is one block south of where the fund-raiser was held. No arrests have been made in that slaying, which police said is possibly gang related.

The Saturday night party was attended by numerous gang members who live in the area, and the dispute that led to the stabbing occurred after the party had ended, Ferrand said.