Matias Lomeli's home on West Congress Street is only steps from a back alley that runs behind busy Mount Vernon Avenue. It was a convenient path for the 42-year-old soccer fan any time he wanted to pick up beer to watch his favorite team, Chivas, play on television.
Last Saturday night, at around 11:30 p.m., Lomeli walked that same path to the store, family said, but never returned.
He was found in the alley with a fatal gunshot wound to the side, San Bernardino's 25th homicide of 2008.
Detectives have said they don't know exactly why Lomeli was shot, but have ruled out gangs. A 911 caller reported people running through the alley, but that's been about it.
"There have been no witnesses we've been able to locate," said San Bernardino police homicide Sgt. Dave Dillon.
The victim, according to his family, was simply a hardworking provider who liked to unwind by coaching adult soccer leagues in town or watching the sport on TV.
Robbery is one possible motive. Lomeli's son, 23-year-old Ricardo Preciado, said detectives told him his dad could have been attacked in the alley for money, causing him to fight for the gun and then run away. Lomeli's wallet was missing when he was found, Preciado said.
"They said my dad was fighting for his life," he said. "He was trying to take their gun away from them, but they shot him in his hand. The second shot missed, but the third hit him as he was running away."
I interviewed Preciado at his father's home Tuesday morning. He was calm, but serious, in describing what he viewed as his responsibility.
Once his father is buried in Mexico, Preciado will return to live with his mother and younger siblings -- he had moved to Fontana -- get a new job and try to provide for the family.
Lomeli worked as a night shift supervisor at a Riverside aluminum manufacturer, he said. He had been in the country for almost twenty years, always working, Preciado said.
"He'd never rest for us, but now that he's gone, I need to take care of things," the son said. "I'm not going to stop.
Preciado said his quest would go as far as trying to find the killers himself, via information he may hear on the street.
"What would you do if someone killed your dad in cold blood?" he said he asked the detective.
Anyone with information on Lomeli's slaying is asked to call San Bernardino police Detective Steve Turner at 909-384-5642 or the department's anonymous tip line at 909-384-5656.
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i thank you for posting this iformation but please do not forget this case keep taken pictures of the side. we the family continuing missing his loss. and his death still a cold case without being solved.
This tragedy has been repeating since I was a child. I left Riverside in the early 80's. Hard to believe those big North East cities are safer than the Inland Empire. As a kid in my community killing was the norm in other barrios. As an adult a friend of mine was murdered in the very house he grew up. And years prior his family member was murdered next door. All were good persons whom died for what? I look at Michael Gonzalez death (in the early 80's), and the murders of today as acts or cowardice as seen through the eyes of a killers deep seated hatred toward the world. Those killers are terrorists, calling them murders is an understated word for these professional types. A terrorists job is to prey upon a human, instill fear then kill, in the attempt to scare the community. They don't value their life, and as a result our lives have no value. Unfortunately they are coming to get us at any moment of our existence. And most common they attack when we are in the pursuit of happiness.