Slain Paper Deliveryman Is Mourned

While the rest of the city slept, Alejo Ortiz Amador collected several hundred freshly printed editions of the Los Angeles Times and headed out into the darkness in his pickup truck.

His delivery route of gas stations, pharmacies and liquor stores crisscrossed the streets of South Los Angeles.

After three decades on the job, he had told friends and family he was looking forward to the day -- two years from now -- when he could retire with his wife, Alma, on property in his native Mexico.

But early Sunday morning, the 56-year-old father of seven had barely made it out of his red Toyota near the corner of East 95th and Main streets when he was confronted by an unknown gunman. The assailant shot him once in the face at close range, police said.

The gunman took Amador’s wallet, police said, and left him to die beside the same bundles of newsprint that he had distributed for years to help support his large, close-knit family.

Los Angeles police detectives said robbery was the motive, but there were no witnesses to the crime.

Times officials said Monday that they are offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the killer. A fund to assist the Amador family has been set up through the Los Angeles Times Credit Union.

“It is with great sadness and outrage that we report the senseless killing of Alejo Ortiz Amador,” Jeff Johnson, incoming Times publisher, wrote in a statement to the newspaper’s employees. “Our sincerest and deepest condolences go out to Mr. Amador’s family.”

Amador retired from The Times in 2001, but since then has worked for an independent newspaper distributor. His wife, a daughter and a son, who had worked for The Times putting inserts into various editions of the paper, also work for the independent distributor.

His youngest daughter, 20-year-old Rosio Amador, described her father as a dedicated family man who also looked out for colleagues and neighbors.

“Every day the same thing, that was the only thing that was supporting us, that job and he was there for us and worked no matter what,” she said. “He was a wonderful father. He cared about everybody and we miss him.”

The daughter recalled a grinding routine in which her father would wake up at 2 a.m. and return home at 8 a.m. from his delivery job, only to put in additional hours working as a mechanic, out of his Los Angeles home and at neighbors’ homes, where he fixed automobiles.

If a neighbor couldn’t pay, Amador would let the payment slide a pay day or two or even comp the job.

That generosity, helpfulness and jovial attitude extended to the workplace, colleagues said.

“He was one of the most likable people you would ever want to meet,” said Steve Fox, who was Amador’s manager at The Times for two years. “He was always volunteering to do extra. His work was excellent.... I don’t recall he missed a day of work.”

Colleague Dennis Barker, who worked with Amador for 10 years, said he was shocked and saddened by the killing. He recalled Amador’s dry wit, collegiality and skill at the grill.

He cooked “a mean carne asada,” said Barker, who recalled the Christmas potlucks when Amador would roll out a 55-gallon drum doubling as a barbecue and cook the meat outside a warehouse near The Times’ Olympic printing plant.

“He was from the old school -- he improvised,” Barker said. “Alma cooked the rice and beans. We always looked forward to that.”

Barker said it was ironic that Amador was one of the drivers who braved, and survived, the Los Angeles riots in 1992, only to be gunned down 13 years later.

“The city was ablaze and part of our job was to create normalcy in an otherwise chaotic world,” he said. “When the paper hit the ground, it meant things were getting back to normal.”