Police Still Seeking Teen for Questioning in Shooting

Police on Tuesday continued searching for a 19-year-old wanted for questioning in the fatal shooting of a 16-year-old boy with whom he had been living.

The missing teen-ager, Luis Eduardo Hernandez, was last seen leaving the 1100 block of West Alton Avenue wearing a black-and-green checkered jacket, black T-shirt and black pants, Police Lt. Robert Helton said. He was carrying a gray and white backpack, police said.

“We just want to question him,” Helton said. “At this point, we are leaning toward [the shooting] being accidental and we need his input.

“However, that does not mean there will be no criminal implications later on.”

Hernandez had been living at the home of Armando Cuevas, who died from a bullet wound to the forehead Monday. A weapon has not been recovered.

An 18-year-old who was in the room when the shooting occurred called police from a telephone booth several blocks away, Helton said. When police officers arrived about 2 p.m., they found Cuevas’ body sprawled on the floor of his locked bedroom.

Detectives originally suspected homicide, but information from a coroner’s autopsy report, family members and witnesses led them to believe the shooting was accidental, Helton said, declining to elaborate.

Cuevas, who had lived with two aunts, an uncle and a cousin for about 10 years, met Hernandez at Saddleback High School, where both attended, relatives said. Hernandez apparently “didn’t have a home to go to,” so Cuevas invited the youth to come live with him about three weeks ago, relatives and police said.

“At this point, we can’t say we have a whole lot of workable information to go on,” Helton said. “The person with the most information, in this case, is the deceased young man. It doesn’t appear that the family knew [Hernandez] that well.”