Two brothers arrested in connection with 405 Freeway shooting in Van Nuys
The bodies of two male cousins were found in and around their mother’s home on the 405 Freeway in Van Nuys, just a mile south of where the boys and their cousin, Anthony Melendez, were shot to death. (Photo courtesy of the Los Angeles County medical examiner’s office.)
In the hours after the shooting, investigators pieced together a timeline of events from witnesses. They spoke with a friend who told police she saw two men, one holding a gun, firing at the boys, and witnesses who said they saw the gunman firing several times. And, police said, a surveillance video from a nearby gas station showed an unidentified man firing at least one round.
Now, according to authorities, officers arrested two brothers involved in the shooting, 24-year-old Vincent Ramos-Rodriguez, of Norwalk, and 22-year-old Rafael Ramos-Rodriguez, of Woodland Hills. Vincent Ramos-Rodriguez was charged with murder, one count of attempted murder and one count of attempted murder. Rafael Ramos-Rodriguez was charged with the two weapons charges. Both men were being held in lieu of $8 million bail.
A prosecutor says the two are accused of taking the two boys to a home in Norwalk and fatally shooting them there. Police say the case remains unsolved.
A man who lived in the home with the boys is expected to go on trial next month.
Comments
I don’t know what is going through the minds of these two boys, but I am going to pray for them. Their mother was supposed to receive some money from the California Supreme Court and to have the death sentence overturned to a life without the possibility of parole. That may be the reason why they were killed.
One of the victims, the son of a law enforcement officer, was a good man. His mother, who was a good person, did not deserve to be dragged through the media and all of this. Yes, my brother who died was a great man, and I will continue to pray for him and for his mother.
I watched and listened to the CNN coverage from the beginning of