This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Three arrests have been made in the case of an 18-year-old stabbed to death on campus Cleveland High School in Reseda yesterday.
Kevin Orellano, 18, was playing on the handball courts on campus yesterday around 4 pm when he was approached by two men who got into an argument with him, according to a release from the Los Angeles Police Department. Witnesses told police that they got into a fight, and one of the men whipped out a small pocket knife and stabbed Orellano in the torso. Orellano was transported to a hospital but he died of his injuries before he made it to the emergency room, police said.
Police arrested the two suspects as well as a woman they suspect of driving the getaway minivan. They said they were able to track all three of them down through social media. Police wouldn't say which site was passing around information about the suspects, but they told The Los Angeles Daily News that it wasn't Facebook.
This morning at 12:15 am police showed up to a home in North Hills where they found the minivan that was spotted by witnesses as well as the three suspects in the case. Michael Steven Carpio, an unidentified 16-year-old and Michelle Pineda, 19, were all arrested on suspicion of murder. Police said the 16-year-old allegedly stabbed Orellano, and Pineda is suspected of driving the suspects from the crime scene.
Police say the two male suspects were gang members, but they don't believe that Orellano had any sort of gang ties. Orellano was a student at West Valley Occupational Center. It's not clear what led to the confrontation, but a detective in the case said the suspects felt disrespected for some reason.
Detective Joel Price told The Los Angeles Daily News: "It doesn't take much to set gang members off. All one need to do is look at them and they feel as though they're being mad-dogged, I guess, if you will. And they want to know what you're looking at."
Students told CBS Los Angeles that they were shocked that something like this would happen in full view of witnesses at a popular area on campus.
