VAN NUYS : Suspect in Slaying Finally Surrenders

Eudale Jackson probably could feel the police closing in on him.

Suspected of killing a Panorama City man for his wallet, Jackson, 23, had been on the run in Simi Valley, Hawthorne and Los Angeles since Nov. 21.

On Wednesday, just a day after a $25,000 reward was offered for information leading to his arrest and conviction, a friend persuaded Jackson to surrender to officers from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Lennox Station.

Detectives from the Van Nuys Divison of the Los Angeles Police Department said physical evidence and eyewitnesses linked Jackson to the killing of 23-year-old Jose Torres.

Torres was killed in the parking lot behind his apartment in the 8100 block of Langdon Avenue as he, his wife and their 4-month-old son returned home from the grocery store with the makings of their Thanksgiving Day meal.

Torres was able to hand his son to his wife before Jackson assaulted him, police said. After a brief struggle, Jackson shot Torres in the head and shoulder, police said. He died a day later.

After seeing television broadcasts about the reward that showed Jackson’s photograph, Carolyn Coulter, a friend of Jackson’s, convinced him that his life was in danger while he remained on the lam.

“She told him basically that he didn’t have anywhere to go,” said Detective Lee Jett of LAPD’s Van Nuys Division. “He knew he could have been shot, injured, maybe even killed if he was spotted.”

He added that Jackson remained in Los Angeles because his family and friends reside in the city.

For the same reason, Jett said, police believed that a hefty bounty would help them apprehend their suspect.

“He had been seen in Simi Valley and he knew we were close,” Jett said. “He knew it was just a matter of time.”

As the announcement of Jackson arrest was made Thursday in front of the LAPD’s Van Nuys Division, Jose Torres’ wife, Esmerelda, stood holding their only son, Jesus. Esmerelda, 16, said life has been difficult in the two months since her husband was killed. She moved in with her mother in Pacoima a day after her husband was gunned down.

“I want to thank the police for everything they have done,” she said. “It won’t bring my husband back. It won’t bring his father back. But I thank you.”

The Los Angeles City Council approved the reward offer Wednesday at the request of Councilman Richard Alarcon, who represents Panorama City.

A separate $25,000 reward also was offered for information leading to the conviction of Victor Jordan, suspected in the shooting death of 23-year-old Benito Ozaeta in Panorama City, also in November.

Police said the reward has turned up no solid leads on Jordan, who is also known as Victor Fuller.

Police describe the 29-year-old Jordan as African American, 6 feet, 200 pounds, his hair worn in short dreadlocks.

Anyone with any information about Jordan should contact the police at (818) 756-8377. The $25,000 reward will be offered for 60 days.