Oscar Escobar-Lazo, a 21-year-old Latino man, was tragically shot and killed on April 26, 2008, in Los Angeles, California. The incident occurred around 11:20 p.m. on April 25, 2008, at the intersection of Melrose Avenue and Hobart Boulevard in Hollywood. Escobar-Lazo was on his way home, carrying take-out food for his family, when he was approached by two Latino men. According to police reports, these men were gang members who were driving around Hollywood looking for a random victim.
They shot Escobar-Lazo and fled the scene in a 1990s black Honda Accord. Escobar-Lazo was taken to County-USC Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 12:25 a.m. the following day.
The investigation revealed that Escobar-Lazo had been talking to his cousin on a cellphone just before the shooting. He mentioned that he was being followed by a group of men in a car who had said something to him, then drove ahead, parked, and waited. When the phone call abruptly ended, his cousin, William Lazo, contacted Escobar-Lazo's girlfriend, Erika Lino, fearing something bad had happened. Lino ran outside and saw police tape a block away. By the time she reached the scene, paramedics had already taken Escobar-Lazo to the hospital, where he later died.
Family members described Escobar-Lazo as an honest man and a hard worker who had emigrated from El Salvador three years prior. He worked in construction in California and Houston and had a passion for soccer. His uncle, Jose Mario Escobar, recalled the last time he saw Escobar-Lazo at an international soccer game between El Salvador and China at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Escobar-Lazo had plans to stay in the U.S. for two more years before returning to El Salvador to build a home with his father and brother.
Despite the efforts of the Los Angeles Police Department, the suspects in Escobar-Lazo's murder were not immediately apprehended. The police urged anyone with information to come forward, offering contact details for the Hollywood Homicide detectives handling the case. The investigation into his death highlighted the senseless violence that claimed the life of a young man who had come to the United States in search of a better future.
