SOUTH PASADENA — A man was found fatally shot sitting in the passenger seat of a car early Sunday, authorities said.
The man’s name was not released pending notification of his family, however he was described as a 35-year-old Latino man, Los Angeles County Department of Coroner Investigator Selena Barros said.
The discovery was made about 4:20 a.m. in the 1000 block of Arroyo Drive, Los Angeles County sheriff’s Deputy Byron Ward said.
In a written statement, Deputy Lillian Peck said the body was first found by a police officer.
“A South Pasadena patrol officer saw a vehicle parked… with the windows fogged up,” the statement said. “When the officer checked the suspicious vehicle, he discovered the victim sitting in the front passenger seat, murdered.”
Detectives from the Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau are helping South Pasadena police in the investigation, and anyone with information is asked to contact detectives at (323) 890-5500.
Sheriff’s homicide detectives had already left the scene early Sunday afternoon, however South Pasadena police kept the area cordoned off with yellow crime scene tape and used dogs to continue searching for possible evidence.
The slaying was South Pasadena’s first in more than three years, South Pasadena police Cpl. Matt Petersen said.
Armando Reynaga, 28, of Eagle Rock was fatally stabbed in the parking lot of a Carrows restaurant in the 800 block of Fremont Avenue.
Officials said Reynaga had been meeting his estranged wife at the parking lot for several weeks prior to the stabbing to exchange custody of their young child.
The case remains unsolved.