LAPD detectives at the Hollenbeck Station have had no luck tracking down the shooter in a May 5 murder that downed 20-year-old Boyle Heights resident Frankie Valesquez.

“He was walking to the liquor store with his cousin,” says Detective Stephanie Carrillo. She says “it's unknown at this time” whether the shooting was gang-related.

Twitter exchanges between Velasquez' friends and family…

… indicate that he was in the hospital for at least a day before succumbing to his wounds. “He's in surgery right now , my brother can pull threw,” wrote Alizza Velasquez on May 6. But by later that night, the R.I.P.s were flowing in.

An anonymous commenter on Start Over News Magazine writes, “I worked with this young man he he was a very quiet person and a good worker. He will be missed.”

According to the LAPD report, Velasquez was shot by an unknown suspect with a handgun around 9:45 p.m. on Saturday night.

The victim was walking with his cousin, who was uninjured, near 1st and Gless Streets at the time. There does appear to be a liquor store at that intersection:


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Also located nearby is the Boyle Heights Christian Center and Pecan Park.

Detectives have yet to find the murder weapon. Anyone with information about the suspect or the crime in general is urged to call Detective Carillo at (323) 342-8959.

[@simone_electra / swilson@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]

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