Man found stabbed to death in Reseda
By Holly J. Andres, Staff Writer
Article Last Updated: 12/22/2008 04:19:21 PM PST

RESEDA - A man who apparently lived in a large apartment with more than 20 people was stabbed to death Monday, and police were looking for who did it.

The stabbing occurred just before 4 a.m. in the 7200 block of Geyser Avenue across from a McDonald's on Sherman Way. The apartment sits on the second story above some businesses.

A resident saw a fight and called the building's owner, who notified the manager, who then called police, said Detective Joel Price, of the Los Angeles Police Department's West Valley Division.

"The manager saw the victim with multiple stab wounds to the head and torso," Price said. "We have not identified the victim or the suspect."

The victim, described as a Latino in his 40s, was dead when the Los Angeles Fire Department arrived. No suspect description was given.

Miguel Salazar, owner of Exelence Auto Repair, sat in his car around noon as he waited to be allowed to enter his business. The police had taped off both ends of Geyser and he had been waiting since he arrived at 9 a.m.

"I was actually talking to some of them on Saturday night. 'Man, how do you feel living here, living like animals? Wouldn't you be better off at home even if you had to live in your fathers' house in Mexico?' That's what I asked them," said Salazar, who said men, women and children live in the apartment.

Salazar, who is originally from Mexico, said he's heard the police have been called to the address "a lot." He estimated that 20-30 people live
Advertisement
in the large apartment and that he was aware that some work at a nearby car wash.

"I hear they fight every day," Salazar said.

Price said the homicide was not gang-related. The public can call 818-374-7725 or the 24-hour, toll-free hotline at 1-877-529-3855 if they have more information.