Larry Betancourt Demelo, a 38-year-old resident of Artesia, California, was tragically shot and killed on September 10, 2016, in Lakewood, California. According to the Los Angeles County coroner’s records, Demelo was sitting in a stairwell outside his girlfriend’s apartment building, located in the 11800 block of Centralia Street, when the incident occurred. He was conversing with another man when he decided to walk out to the street to talk to someone in a vehicle. It was at this moment that someone in the car shot Demelo in the torso. After being shot, Demelo managed to stagger back to the stairwell before collapsing. He was subsequently taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 11:39 p.m.
The investigation into Demelo's death revealed that the person he had been talking to in the stairwell fled the scene and has not been located for questioning. Witnesses in the apartment building reported hearing gunshots, but no one saw the actual shooting, leaving investigators without any suspect information. Items found in the stairwell suggested that Demelo might have been involved in a sales transaction at the time of the shooting, although the specifics of these items and the nature of the transaction were not disclosed as the investigation was ongoing.
Despite efforts by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department to gather more information, the case remains unsolved. Investigators have urged anyone with information to come forward, but as of now, no arrests have been made, and no suspects have been identified. The lack of eyewitnesses and concrete evidence has made it challenging for law enforcement to make significant progress in the case. The community and Demelo's family continue to seek justice and answers regarding his untimely death.
