Couple Killed in Apparent Murder-Suicide

A popular young couple who worked together at a Van Nuys elementary school and had planned to be married were found dead in the street shortly after midnight Thursday, killed in a murder-suicide apparently triggered by their breakup, police said.

The bodies of Juan Rojero, 29, and Veronica Acevedo, 24, were discovered near the corner of Bledsoe Street and Foothill Boulevard, about 100 yards from Acevedo’s house. Police say Rojero shot Acevedo in the head and body with a handgun before shooting himself.

Colleagues at Valerio Street Elementary School, where the couple had worked for the past year, spending occasional lunch hours together on a school lawn, could express little more than shock at the news.

Acevedo had worked as a drill team instructor and a playground monitor at the school.

Rojero, who taught first grade, had completed his final year as a teaching intern and was to begin working as a credentialed teacher in September.

“Here are two people who had their whole lives ahead of them,” said Valerio Principal Anais Ruiz. “For this tragic incident to take place is mind-boggling.”

Rojero, who lived in Panorama City, helped Acevedo get her job as a teacher’s assistant, recommending her to Ruiz.

Teachers at the school said the couple had recently broken off their engagement.

As Ruiz gathered her staff in the faculty lounge during recess and broke the news, several teachers wept.

“The word that leaps to mind is ‘disbelief,’ ” Ruiz said after the meeting.

Ruiz spent Thursday afternoon fielding telephone calls and agonizing over the drafting of a letter telling parents of the tragedy.

Acevedo had organized a drill team at the school about a year ago and held practices after class. The 15 girls on the team were planning to enter cheerleading competitions for the first time next year.

“For a long time I wanted a drill team, and here she appeared,” Ruiz recalled. “She made such a positive impact. She was vibrant, bubbly, energetic. The kids loved her.”

Although he was a rookie teacher, Rojero won the respect of many of his veteran colleagues at Valerio for his creativity and his willingness to help others. Rojero, who wore his long black hair in a ponytail, served as Spanish translator for some teachers and would often help out by counseling disruptive students.

Teachers said Rojero was known for his enthusiasm toward science. His classroom stood out at the school after he and his students transformed the room into a construction-paper jungle.

Rojero, who was known to his colleagues as Juan Carlos, had taken the summer off at the year-round school. He was often the first choice of teachers to serve as a substitute.

On Thursday, he had been expected to work at Valerio.

Teacher’s assistant Luis Salgado, 21, was Acevedo’s neighbor and had worked with her at Sylmar Elementary before she started at Valerio last year. He said the couple had dated for more than two years and had recently gotten engaged. She had been wearing an engagement ring, he said.

“You wouldn’t think there were any problems between them,” said Salgado. “They seemed like the perfect couple to me. He was a very calm guy. She was a very sweet girl.”

As Salgado spoke outside the Valerio campus, a little boy approached and asked: “Where’s Veronica?”

Salgado, looking solemn, replied: “Veronica is not going to be here today.”

After the deaths of Rojero and Acevedo were announced, second-grade teacher George Santini, a friend of Rojero, said he first heard from another teacher that Acevedo had broken off the engagement.

Santini said Rojero was distraught over the breakup and had sought advice from colleagues. Santini said he felt rage when he heard of the killings.

“I’ll go to her funeral, but not to his if he really did this.”