Bullet holes can still be seen at the entry gate where Carlo Mellado and his family called home.
One of them broke through stucco, a second is imprinted on the steel gate, a third is somewhere nearby, but the fourth is the one that took the life of the 30-year-old father of two.
Mellado, a 30-year-old father of two, was slain right outside his home in the 800 block of 167th Street in the Harbor Gateway area of South LA.
“This is a cowardly act for someone to take such a good person from us,” said Desiree Alejo, Carlo’s long-time girlfriend and mother of their two sons, ages 11 and 6. "A great father, a great boyfriend to me, a great son. We need justice. For all of us, and for him."
LAPD South Bureau Homicide detectives said Mellado was shot in the back the night of Nov. 6, 2018. They believe he was trying to escape the shooter, who was inside a vehicle that had pulled into the alley. The car had followed Mellado to his doorstep.
“It appears that he was trying to key his way into the complex,” Det. Rene Castro said.
Castro believes there were other people in the alley that night that have yet to come forward with information about who might have been in the passing car.
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“I can’t believe that no one knows anything,” Alejo said.
Mellado’s mother says her worry is for the two boys he left behind.
“I know we’re at a loss but my boys -- they’re not going to have their dad, never see their dad anymore. My heart breaks for them,” Alicia Mellado said.
LAPD is asking anyone with information to contact its South Bureau Homicide division at 323-786-5113. Those who wish to remain anonymous can call 800-222-TIPS (8477).
