Salvador Avila Jr., 19

Died June 24, 2007 at 2:00 a.m.

Salvador Avila Jr., 19, suffered multiple gunshot wounds at 8454 Alondra Blvd. in Paramount, and died at 2 a.m. Sunday, June 24.

According to Sheriff's Det. Ray Lugo, Avila was a high school graduate from Compton who had just gone to the local Tam's that night for some food. A friend he was with got into a fight with other Latino men at the Tam's, and was knocked unconscious. Avila went over—not to fight—but to help his friend, Lugo said. He tried to pulled the unconscious man of the ground and get him to a car. As he was doing so, he was shot.

Update: Sheriff's homicide detectives Lugo and Sgt. Joe Ramirez have cleared this case. Arrested were Luis Rodriguez, 24, and Adrian Chavez, 27, both of whom fought with the friend. Rodriguez, who prosecutors say was the shooter, is also charged in a double murder in Paramount.

Chavez and Rodriguez were identified as suspects in the Avila case about two days before Rodriguez is suspected to have killed the additional victims of the Paramount double murder. Police had Rodriguez in their sites—internal flyers had circulated in station houses about him—but deputies were not able to find him in time. He is accused of murdering Julio Ramirez and Benjamin Velasco on July 28, a little more than a month after Avila's murder. He was caught a few days after that, now with three suspected murders in his wake.