An East Los Angeles family is grieving and pleading for the police and the public’s help after a 17-year-old was stabbed to death while waiting for his mom to pick him up after school.
His family said Xavier Chavarin was a straight-A student at Woodrow Wilson High School and was set to graduate in just a few months. According to the Los Angeles Police Department, someone stabbed him dead right before 4 p.m. Friday on the 4500 block of Valley Boulevard in El Sereno.
“It breaks my heart, the fact that they just took him away from me,” mother Laura Frias told NBC4.
Xavier was waiting for her to pick him up outside a King Torta restaurant when police said someone walked up to the teen while he wasn't looking and stabbed him in the back. His family said he tried to get help but collapsed inside the restaurant and died at the scene.
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"I want people whoever saw, seen, heard, if they saw the person, please spread the word and find the person who did this to my son," Frias said.
Security camera video of the attacker was released Tuesday.
Tuesday afternoon LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho stopped to see the growing memorial where it took place.
"I’m shocked, as the entire community should be shocked," Carvalho said. "When something goes wrong with a student like that, the entire community should bow its head and think about what is happening in Los Angeles."
He added that more than 10 counselors are now at Woodrow Wilson High School comforting students and staff.
Xavier’s family said the attack on the "humble," "kind" and "playful" victim was random.
Police have not provided a detailed description of the suspect, but Xavier’s family said several cameras captured the stabbing, which they hope will help investigators find the boy’s killer.
Xavier’s mom, meanwhile, is trying to figure out how to move forward without her only son.
“I don’t know what to say. [I am] just so heartbroken. He was my love, my everything,” Frias said.
Anyone with information on the suspect is asked to contact the LAPD.
