Slain Grocer Mourned as an Innocent Victim

There were too many reminders of the killings that took place over the weekend to make it through the workday on Monday at the Mercado Lupita in Highland Park: bullet holes, shattered glass, a makeshift shrine of candles and fresh flowers.

Raymond Argueta, 42, one of the owners of the little store, had been killed two nights earlier by bullets intended for another man.

All Argueta was doing was closing up shop.

As neighbors stopped by to offer their condolences at the meat and produce market on Aldama Street, the workers--some of whom were related to Argueta--took frequent breaks to sit silently outside at a picnic table and try to make sense of the tragedy.

“He was a beautiful person,” said Raul Flores, 24, who had worked for Argueta for seven months. “He was very good with all of us. The whole world loved him very much.”

Police say that Jose Quesada, 22, a suspected gang member who lived in East Los Angeles and Highland Park, was making a phone call at a pay phone just outside the market when two men opened fire on him.

Quesada tried to flee into the little market just as Argueta was trying to lock up.

The assailants fired multiple shots at Argueta and Quesada. The older man landed on top of the younger one, a relative said. Det. Robert Pulley said bystanders rushed to their aid, but both men were dead by the time paramedics arrived.

Police say they have no suspects and have not recovered any weapons. They suspect the attack was gang-related.

Argueta “was just an innocent bystander, I guess,” said Anna Tello, a relative who was helping out at the store on Monday.

“Everybody has come around to pay their respects. He was a sweet man. He was a real loved guy,” Tello said.

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Relatives said Argueta, a native of El Salvador, was a father of three--including a baby by his new wife. “She’s in trauma,” Tello said. “They just had the baby this year.”

Ana Argueta, his aunt, remembered him as a kind man and a hard worker who loved his neighborhood market where he sold Central American foods and fresh meats. “He was born working and he died working,” she said.

Heartbroken by her nephew’s death, Ana Argueta said, “I’m not going to celebrate Christmas this year.”