Isaias Rueda, 23

Died Oct. 6, 2007 at 5:39 a.m.

Isaias Rueda, a 23-year-old Latino man, was shot while waiting for a taxi in the 200 block of Kenmore Avenue at about 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 6. A second Latino man, 30, was also struck by gunfire and was hospitalized in critical condition.

Rampart Det. Fred Faustino said Rueda was a construction worker with no ties to gangs. He lives in the neighborhood, and was seeing off his friend, who was waiting for the taxi to take him home. A dark SUV drove up. Rueda walked up to the SUV window, thinking it was the taxi. Words were exchanged, and gunfire erupted. A possible "mistaken identity" killing, Faustino said.

The shooting took place in the Normandie Hill area, right at the apex of a little rise in a neighborhood with sweeping views to Griffith Observatory. Fourteen-year-old Erwin Escobar was killed two blocks to the south on the same street last month.

Anyone with information is asked to call Rampart homicide at (213) 207-2060.