VENICE : Police Seeking Killer of Man Found Shot to Death in Alley
A 33-year-old man was found shot to death this week, slumped over the wheel of his van in an alley, police said.
The body of Paul Edward Medina was discovered about 4 a.m. Monday by two passers-by, said Detective David Straky of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Pacific Station. Medina was found in a 1985 blue Dodge Caravan pushed into a fence at the intersection of California and Electric courts.
Police said the alley is used as a shortcut by residents and is in a high-crime area, although no motive has been established for the shooting.
“We don’t believe it’s a gang-related shooting,†Straky said. “As for robbery, we just don’t know--the victim’s wallet was found in the vehicle.â€
Eloisa Medina, the victim’s mother, said her son was last seen about 8 p.m. Sunday in a Sav-On drug store near the corner of Lincoln Boulevard and Rose Avenue, two blocks from his home.
Medina, married and the father of two children ages 8 and 2, was a Venice High School graduate and an ex-Marine. He worked as an aircraft assembler for Northrop in El Segundo.
“All he cared about was work and his family,†said Eloisa Medina. “All his life we never had a problem with him.â€
“I don’t know why they killed him,†his wife said, sobbing. “There was no other man in this world as devoted to his family.â€
Anyone with information is asked to call Pacific Station detectives: (310) 202-4506.
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