Van Nuys Teen Sought in Uncle’s Killing

Authorities searched Monday for a 16-year-old Van Nuys boy suspected of fatally stabbing his uncle during an argument, police said.

Jose Luis Rodriguez lived with his uncle, Alvaro Montenegro, 36, in an apartment complex in the 14600 block of Calvert Street in Van Nuys for about two months, police said.

“We know [Rodriguez] is somewhere in the city,” Los Angeles Police Homicide Det. Al Aldaz said. “He has no place to go.”

Montenegro tried to counsel the youth on drinking about 1:30 a.m. Sunday, Aldaz said. The two then fought, and the uncle was stabbed in the upper torso with a kitchen knife, Aldaz said. Montenegro died at a hospital.

Officers used dogs to trace Rodriguez’s path to St. Elisabeth Church, about two blocks from the crime scene, police said.

“There was an early-morning Spanish Mass and we are afraid somebody may have given Rodriguez a ride without knowing he is wanted for murder,” Aldaz said.

The victim’s wife, Marisa Mendoza, appeared before television cameras Monday and pleaded with her nephew to surrender.

Police said Montenegro got Rodriquez a job at a fast-food restaurant, where he worked as an assistant manager, after inviting him into his home.

Montenegro had been living in Los Angeles for about 20 years and is survived by his wife and three children, ages 17, 15 and 3, police said.