Police Have Few Leads in Teen’s Slaying

Abel Rios died 25 feet from his apartment door and no one saw who killed him, police said Wednesday.

Detectives said they had few leads and no suspects in the shooting of the 16-year-old Orange High School student. Rios had been working on a car outside the apartment near Haster Street and Allard Avenue when a gunman shot him once in the chest about 5 p.m. Tuesday, police said.

Rios collapsed in his living room, where a cousin called paramedics. The teen-ager died at 7 p.m. at UCI Medical Center.

“There’s no clear-cut evidence of attempted robbery or attempted vehicle theft,” Sgt. Doug Morrill said. “There’s nothing to indicate why this individual was shot.”

“Nobody actually witnessed the shooting itself,” Morrill said, so detectives do not know what led to it.

Witnesses told police two teen-age boys and two teen-age girls ran from the scene after the shooting, police said.

Rios was not involved in gangs but feared that some of the local gang members thought he was, said his stepfather, Julio Palomino.

Rios, the oldest of four siblings, had just returned to Garden Grove from Arizona, where he spent several months with his biological father, Palomino said. He had begun classes at Orange High School, where he was a junior.