Dispute Over Debt Leads to Slaying
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VAN NUYS — A 29-year-old man was shot to death outside his apartment Sunday morning during an argument with another man who owed him money, Los Angeles police said.
Jose Napoleon Orellana was pronounced dead outside 6740 Hayvenhurst Ave. near the Van Nuys Airport, said Detective Dan O’Hanian of the Los Angeles Police Department.
Police issued an alert for the gray 1990 Toyota pickup truck that the suspect, Hector Rodolfo Mejia, used to flee the scene. The truck has a California license plate number, 3Z82354.
Authorities believe that Mejia, 36, lived on and off at the apartment complex and was staying there Sunday.
Mejia owed Orellana money, O’Hanian said, and the two men had apparently been arguing over it for several weeks.
About 7:30 a.m. Sunday, Mejia allegedly shot Orellana with a handgun several times in the upper torso.
The killing is the second homicide of the year in the Van Nuys Division, O’Hanian said.
Orellana is survived by his wife, Carmen Ramos, and a 10-month-old daughter.
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