Outraged residents of a Mid-Wilshire neighborhood called Saturday for the quick arrest of the person who doused a homeless man with gasoline and burned him to death on a 3rd Street sidewalk in an area where he had lived for two decades.
A clearer portrait of the still unidentified victim of Thursday night's gruesome torching emerged as those who live and work in the multiethnic neighborhood near the corner of 3rd and Berendo streets made plans for a 5 p.m. vigil today in his memory.
The heavyset man in his 50s, whom everyone called "John," was a onetime businessman who ended up on the street when his career evaporated, some said. He came from a well-to-do family that tried repeatedly to persuade him to return home, others said. He was a helpful and thoughtful person who watched out for his neighbors and took pains not to offend them with his presence, according to many.
Detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department's Robbery and Homicide Division were continuing to investigate Saturday. One witness reported seeing several young men emerge from a Honda Civic and douse the victim with the contents of a red plastic gas container. Another reportedly saw a Latino in his 20s with short brown hair and a large black T-shirt running from the scene after the attack, which occurred about 9:30 p.m.
Investigators for the Los Angeles County coroner's office said the identity of the victim would probably be disclosed this morning.
Neighbors said they knew the man from daily encounters with him on 3rd Street, where he sat near an empty dental office. They placed an impromptu shrine with dozens of candles, hand-written letters and other remembrances there Saturday morning.
A sign bearing the words "RIP John" and a photograph of the victim taken two months ago was taped above the sidewalk. It depicted a shoeless, rotund, bearded man clad in a sweater and a dirty, oversize jacket.
Emeita Diaz, 19, said she snapped the picture on her cellphone camera after noticing that the sweater bore the logo of the after-school program for which she works.
"I said 'hi' to him every day because I walked this way to school and work," Diaz said.
"He was never threatening to people. His eyes looked at you very humbly, very sweet. I felt he wanted to say more."
Fifteen-year-old Stephanie Coto, a ninth-grader who lives nearby, placed bouquets of flowers at the site with two friends.
