Juvenile Arrested for Murder in Devonshire

LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT
PRESS RELEASE
Wednesday, August 27, 1999

On 07-21-99, at approximately 3:55 p.m., Devonshire Area officers responded to a radio call regarding a shots fired incident in the 9000 block of Langdon Avenue, in the North Hills area. Upon their arrival the officers observed a male Hispanic victim lying motionless on the east sidewalk of Langdon Avenue. LAFD personnel responded to the location however, the victim expired at the scene due to an unspecified number of apparent gunshot wounds.

Preliminary information indicated the victim was confronted by two suspects as he was walking home from school. The confrontation escalated and one of the suspects shot the victim to death. Witnesses in the residential area described the suspects as male Hispanic teenagers, who fled on foot. One of the suspects was believed to have been armed with a rifle. The suspects rendered the appearance of possible gang members. The motive for the shooting remains under investigation by members of the Devonshire Area Homicide Unit.

The victim has been identified as Giovanni Avelar, a 17 year old resident of North Hills.

UPDATE:

Suspect Luis Acosta, the alleged shooter, was arrested on 07-23-99, and subsequently charged with the murder of the victim (refer to prior release dated 07-24-99). Information developed from members of the North Hills community led to the identification of the juvenile subject who initiated the confrontation with victim Avelar on 07-21-99. The subject was located in an apartment courtyard in the 8700 block of Langdon Avenue, on 08-26-99, at 9:00 p.m. The subject was arrested without incident by members of the Devonshire Homicide Unit and the Devonshire Area Crash Unit. The subject is a 15 year old resident of North Hills, and an admitted gang member. The case relative to this suspect will be presented to the District Attorney at Sylmar Juvenile Court on Monday, 08-30-99.

For Release 3:15 pm PDT
August 27, 1999