2 Held in Killing of Boy Near School

Aided by several eyewitnesses, Los Angeles Police Department detectives have arrested two teenage Pacoima gang members in connection with the Thursday shooting death of a Kennedy High School student.

Victor Celis, 18, and a 16-year-old boy were arrested Friday morning in the slaying of Ricardo Loyd Arreguin, 16, who was shot while walking to meet his mother after attending classes at the Granada Hills campus.

Arreguin, who was not a gang member, was walking with a group of students in the 11100 block of Woodley Avenue about 3 p.m. when someone jumped out of a passing vehicle and asked them what gang they were from, authorities said. Though the group said they were not gang members, Arreguin was shot anyway, police said.

A woman led police to the suspects.

“The best eyewitness was an adult female who was going to shop at a nearby store,” said Sgt. Jay Vucinich of the Devonshire Division station.

“She didn’t know the victim or the suspects. Those are the best, most reliable eyewitnesses,” he said. “Those are the types of eyewitnesses we look for all the time.”

Based largely on eyewitness accounts of the event and a description of the suspects’ vehicle, detectives served search and arrest warrants early Friday at the home of Celis. He was taken into custody.

At 7 a.m., the 16-year-old was arrested.

Arreguin’s relatives, already stunned by the terrorist attacks earlier in the week in New York City and at the Pentagon, were shocked by Ricky’s death, a family member said.

“I was telling my mom, with everything going on in New York with the attacks, how could anyone go out and kill people here?” said Celina Hernandez, 17, Arreguin’s cousin.

She described her cousin as “a family guy who liked playing football and basketball and loved getting the family together.”

“When one of the family was down and depressed, Ricky was the one who would try and cheer them up and try and make them laugh,” said Hernandez. “We need him now more than ever.”