Two teenagers were shot dead near a Mount Washington lookout on November 7, 2024. At about 12:15 a.m., 17-year-old Juan Melendez Jr. and 18-year-old Denzell Guzman were approached by a group of assailants near the 1400 block of Cliff Drive; witnesses said the group opened fire and then left in a dark-colored vehicle. First responders pronounced both high school students dead at the scene; the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed gunshot wounds to the head as the cause of death.

Friends and community members described Juan as a loving, kind, passionate, dedicated and gifted young man, and a GoFundMe was started to help his family. The LAPD has not released suspect descriptions and the motive remains unclear. Anyone with information is asked to contact LAPD Central Bureau Homicide detectives. Did anyone in the Mount Washington community see or hear anything that night?