Man Slain in Rescue Attempt, Police Say

GRANADA HILLS — A 27-year-old man attempting to protect a young woman from what police described as an abusive boyfriend was stabbed to death early Monday morning.

Los Angeles police did not reveal the name of the victim, whose bloody body lay sprawled in front of 17300 Westbury Drive for most of the morning. Alexander Uruena, 23, was arrested on suspicion of murder and held at the Van Nuys Jail in lieu of $1 million bail.

According to neighbors, Uruena and his girlfriend moved into their home on the quiet street a few months ago. Neighbors said they heard a loud argument in the house before sunrise Monday.

Police said the girlfriend called the victim on the phone shortly after she and Uruena began arguing. The man told her that he would pick her up in his car, but when he arrived, Uruena met him at the end of the driveway and stabbed him, police said.

“It’s too bad,” said Det. Marshall White. “This was a guy who was just trying to help this girl out.”

Coroners pronounced the victim dead at the scene. Barbara Russell, who owns a house two doors from Uruena’s house, saw the body. The victim’s shirt was drenched with blood, she said.

Russell, who is preparing to move into her home, said the slaying would not deter her. “As long as he didn’t die in my yard,” she said.

Sonia Siekertzian said she walks by the house every day and had talked to the couple briefly.

“They’ve always seemed to be nice,” she said. “I guess you never know.”

Another woman passing by in a minivan craned her neck to see beyond the yellow police tape. When a neighbor told her about the stabbing, she shook her head in disbelief.

“I moved away from Studio City to get away from crime,” she said.