2 People Arrested in Valerio Street Slaying

Police have arrested two people on suspicion of murder in last Saturday’s slaying of a Sun Valley man, which investigators said may be part of a family feud.

Reynaldo Campos Acosta, 20, was arrested Thursday while picking grapes in the farming community of Delano, said Det. Mike Coffey of the Los Angeles Police Department’s North Hollywood Division. Acosta’s aunt, Maria Rodriguez, 33, was also arrested in Delano, on suspicion of murder. Coffey said Rodriguez drove the get-away car.

Gerardo Campos Lizarraga, 36, a distant cousin of Acosta’s, was shot outside his home in the 10600 block of Valerio Street in Sun Valley about 10:15 p.m. July 20 in the presence of his wife and 9-year-old nephew and died at the scene.

A stray bullet pierced the arm of Lizarraga’s nephew, who was treated at Pacifica Hospital of the Valley.

Acosta told police he killed Lizarraga in retaliation for the killing last year of Acosta’s two uncles in Sinaloa, Mexico, Coffey said.

Police said they found an assault rifle and several hundred rounds of ammunition after searching Acosta’s home Thursday.

They also said they found the suspected murder weapon, a .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol, in a ditch alongside the grape field, where Acosta is believed to have pitched it after fleeing authorities.

The two suspects are being held at Van Nuys jail in lieu of $1 million bail each. They are due to be arraigned Monday in Van Nuys Superior Court.