LOCAL : 2 Jailed in Pacoima Park Killing
Two men were in jail this morning after the death of a 17-year-old boy who was shot in a Pacoima park following a dispute, apparently over ice cream, Los Angeles police said.
Lorenzo Ramirez, 26, of Los Angeles and Benjamin Flores, 29, of Van Nuys were being held without bail at the Foothill Division Jail on suspicion of murder, Detective Al Ferrand said.
They were arrested at their homes Tuesday night after an investigation into the Nov. 28 slaying of Joseph Tapia of Sylmar at Paxton Park in Pacoima, police said.
Ferrand said the victim, a gang member, was walking through the park at Haddon Avenue and Paxton Street and apparently took ice cream from a push-cart vendor without paying.
Ramirez and Flores confronted him, police said, and Ramirez pulled out a handgun and shot Tapia, who was unarmed, several times, police said. Ramirez and Flores then fled, police said.
Tapia was pronounced dead at Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills.
Ferrand said investigators were led to the suspects through information from witnesses, a description of the getaway car and other undisclosed evidence. He said that the gun used during the slaying has not been found and that detectives have been unable to find the ice cream vendor.
Detectives will ask the district attorney’s office to file murder charges against the suspects today, Ferrand said.
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