Man Arrested in Neighbor’s Slaying

Police arrested a 26-year-old man Friday in connection with the shooting death of a neighbor who tried to break up a fight between the suspect and his wife, authorities said.

Louie David Villalba of Buena Park was booked into Orange County Jail on suspicion of murder after surrendering to police at 11:30 a.m., Police Sgt. Terry Branum said. Villalba was being held on $250,000 bail.

The shooting occurred shortly before 3 a.m. Monday in the parking lot of the Commonwealth Manor apartments at 8550 Commonwealth Ave.

The victim, Ronald Louis Brown, 28, who lived down the street, was visiting a friend in the apartment complex when he heard Villalba and his wife, Cristina, fighting outside, police said.

Brown went out to the parking lot and confronted the couple, asking them to stop shouting, police said.

Moments later, a single shotgun blast struck Brown in the chest.

Villalba and an unidentified male friend allegedly fled in a pickup truck. Villalba’s wife left separately a short time later, Branum said.

Neighbors called police, who found Brown lying on the pavement in the apartment complex parking lot. He was pronounced dead that morning at Martin Luther Hospital in Anaheim.