Villa Parke Victim Identified in Pasadena’s First Homicide of 2015

[Updated] An Hispanic man in his fifties was found dead from a gunshot wound in Villa Parke shortly after police were called to the area Tuesday night around 10:22 p.m. in response to a report of shots fired, Pasadena police Lt. Vasken Gourdikian.

About two hours later, a younger Hispanic man “self-admitted” into a local hospital suffering gunshot wounds and is thought to be a second victim in the Villa Parke incident, Gourdikian said.

The murder in the park is Pasadena’s first homicide in 2015.

Villa Parke is located at 363 East Villa Street between Garfield Avenue and North Los Robles Avenue.

The victim was identified as Rafael Martin Soto-Aguilar, 52, of Altadena, Los Angeles County Department of Coroner spokesperson Ed Winters said.

Because the surviving victim of the Tuesday shooting has undergone surgery, little information about this attack has been developed yet by detectives, Gourdikian said early Wednesday.

However, he did report that “this does not appear to be gang-related.”

“The scene is contained, Pasadena Homicide Detectives were notified and forensic specialists are on scene. The Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office responded and has retrieved the decedent,” Gourdikian said in a press release. “The park will remain closed until the mid-morning so that Detectives can further analyze the scene.”

Anyone with further information related to this investigation is asked to contact the Pasadena Police Department at (626) 744-4241 or Detective Lieutenant Diego Torres at (626) 744-4517.