The investigation continued Monday into a shooting in the Willowbrook area that claimed the lives of two men, one of whom was allegedly a convicted drug trafficker known as "El Mago," who had ties to the son of imprisoned Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.
Both men were pronounced dead at the scene of the shooting, which occurred around 8:20 a.m. Thursday in the 14200 block of Towne Avenue, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
Eduardo Escobedo, 39, and Guillermo De Los Angeles Jr., 47, died at the scene, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner and published reports.
A third man suffered unspecified injuries and was taken to a hospital for treatment, the sheriff's department said.
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Escobedo served a nearly five-year sentence for conspiracy to distribute marijuana and money laundering and had been released in 2018. He was also accused of ordering the death of a rival drug trafficker shot to death on the 101 Freeway in 2008, but he was never tried for the murder.
However, his brother and another individual were sentenced to life in prison.
According to police, Escobedo was shot after an all-night party at what area workers say was a clandestine club.
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The other person who died at the scene, Guillermo de Los Angeles Jr., was a gang member and was released from federal prison in December 2022 after serving a 10-year sentence for methamphetamine distribution.
Escobedo had apparently made a new life for himself after serving his sentence. He opened a chain of restaurants and food trucks. On his Instagram account, he appears in photographs with boxer Floyd Mayweather and actor Al Pacino.
Sheriff's department investigators have not yet revealed a motive for the killings.
Guzmán was arrested in 2014 in Mazatlán, after evading capture for more than a dozen years. Five years later, he was convicted of being a principal leader of a criminal network through his leadership of the Mexican organized crime group known as the Sinaloa Cartel.
The sheriff's department says the investigation is ongoing and they are still trying to interview witnesses.
