Man Tries to Aid Brother, Is Shot to Death

A man was shot to death Saturday night as he tried to help his brother after two men forced their way into the victims’ car while it was stopped at a traffic light in South-Central Los Angeles, police said.

Juan Lucas Nunez, 22, of Los Angeles died at the scene after he was shot twice while trying to help his temporarily disabled brother, who had fallen, officers said. Jorge Nunez, 23, who wears a brace on one leg while recovering from surgery, was not hurt.

Police said the brothers were waiting at a signal at San Pedro Street and Gage Avenue when two men walked up and forced their way into the car. After ordering the younger Nunez to drive a short distance at gunpoint, the men pushed the brothers out of the car, Lt. David Powers said. When Juan Nunez bent to help his brother up from the pavement, one of the gunmen shot him twice, Powers said.

The assailants, described by the surviving brother only as two large black men, then drove off in the car, a 1978 red Buick Regal (1LOP604), which has not been found, police said.

On Sunday afternoon, Jorge Nunez sobbed as he expressed his rage.

“They killed my brother only to steal the car. They never even told us they wanted to steal it; never told us to leave the car. They are animals,” he said.

Jorge said he and his brother were returning home after watching a televised boxing match at a friend’s house.

“We had never seen the men before, we weren’t doing anything. My brother was a very good person, a hard worker. But those men just didn’t care what they did,” he said.

The brothers lived in a house with their parents and four other siblings. Jorge Nunez was not working while he recovered from his operation, and Juan Nunez, a construction worker, was helping to support the family.

Concerned that his mother would be too upset to have strangers in the house Sunday, Jorge Nunez haltingly told his story in Spanish over the phone.

“It is so very hard for us, everybody here is very sad,” he said. “But it is important to tell the story, so other people will know it can happen to anybody. These streets are very dangerous.”