3 Arrested in 2 Recent Slayings in North Hills

Police have arrested three men in connection with two separate July slayings, including an 18-year-old gang member who allegedly killed a Monroe High School student who was walking home Wednesday afternoon.

Luis Acosta of Panorama City was arrested Friday night for allegedly shooting to death Giovanni Avelar, 16, as he walked home from school in the 9000 block of Langdon Avenue.

Acosta and another suspect who has not yet been identified reportedly asked Avelar where he was from. Witnesses said Avelar answered “nowhere”--meaning he was not gang affiliated.

“If you’re a kid growing up in a gang-infested neighborhood, you know to say that,” said Det. Mike Oppelt of the LAPD’s Devonshire Division. “He said the right thing.”

But the two still attacked Giovanni, who fought back until Acosta allegedly shot him with a rifle.

Several witnesses identified Acosta as the gunman, police said, and on Friday detectives received a tip that Acosta may have been trying to leave the area. The tipster also told police that Acosta was hiding in an apartment in the 6600 block of De Soto Avenue in Canoga Park.

About 14 officers went to the building at 7 p.m. and waited for two hours when, they said, they saw a woman drive Acosta from the apartment. Police stopped the car and arrested Acosta on suspicion of murder.

He was being held at Devonshire Jail without bail.

In a separate case, police conducted raids Friday morning on four homes and arrested two men suspected of robbing and killing a rival gang member July 1.

Ever Rivera, 20, of Van Nuys and Alex Hluz, 18, of Panorama City were arrested at their homes on suspicion of murder and robbery.

Oppelt said the victims were unarmed gang members who “might have been drug dealers” or were “loitering where they shouldn’t have been” July 1 at 4 a.m. outside an apartment complex at 9024 Burnet Ave. in North Hills.

Police said the two suspects walked up on the victims and began shooting, killing Daniel Vilchis, 17, and critically wounding Otto Vega, 23, both of Panorama City.

Oppelt said investigators are also looking for a third man who may have acted as a lookout during the shooting.

After police identified the suspects, they raided the two men’s homes and the homes of two of their friends. One associate was questioned and released. The other was not home.

Rivera and Hluz were arrested on suspicion of robbery and murder. Both were being held at Devonshire Jail without bail.