Police say that a USC student stabbed a guy on Greek Row on Monday night and is now being held on drug charges.
LAPD says that Ivan Gallegos, 19, and two others approached a homeless man breaking into a car and Gallegos pulled out a knife and fatally stabbed the man. He is being held on $2 million bail.
Interim LAPD Chief Dominic Choi says Gallegos told police that the man told him he had a gun. A police source told The Times that no gun was found at the scene of the crime. The DA has not yet filed any charges against Gallegos.
Officer Norma Eisenman of the LAPD said the fight happened in the 700 block of West 28th Street. Police said Gallegos stayed at the scene of the stabbing and helped them. He was later arrested. The two guys who were with him were questioned and then let go.
“He’s a good kid,” Violet Gallegos, Gallegos’ mother, said when she was called Tuesday morning.
The victim was 27 years old, police said Tuesday night, after first saying he was a homeless guy in his 30s. The county medical examiner has not yet identified the victim because they need to get in touch with his family.
Tuesday, Choi told the Los Angeles Police Commission that the victim was breaking into cars in the area when Gallegos caught up with him off campus.
Choi said that the victim was found in an alley with stab wounds by police. Before paramedics got there, they said he was dead.
Some time ago, USC Annenberg Media said that Gallegos played at school with Mariachi Los Troyanos. He also makes electronic dance music under the stage name IDG. His Instagram page says he finished from Roosevelt High School in 2022 and is now a student at the USC Marshall School of Business.
“Throughout his childhood, Ivan navigated the realities of both his parents’ involvement in gang activities, leading to their intermittent incarceration,” the study said. “Despite growing up in an environment saturated with drugs, gangs and prostitution, he focused on music and sharpened his skills to become a multifaceted instrument and vocalist.”
A trail of blood dried in an alleyway behind a row of USC fraternity buildings hours after police had cleaned up the murder scene. The path began near the Delta Tau Delta house and went through broken beer bottles, empty Zyn nicotine containers, and painted wood from parties with different themes.
People in the area were scared after the stabbing, but some said it wasn’t really a surprise.
Gamma Delta Tau members said that a homeless person stabbed their house manager in the same lane last year. Scott Conner, a member of the fraternity, said that the man stabbed the boss when he was caught trying to steal a bike.
“Those guys back there are pretty mean.” There are a lot of poor people living there. “Cars and homes have been broken into over and over again this school year,” said Conner. “It was expected.”
On Frat Row, Rocio Zenteno cleans homes. Last week, someone broke into her car to steal things, she said.
“When I got there, they told me a homeless man had stolen things from the car,” Zenteno said. “I leave my car open sometimes.” It’s easy to get something quickly because I don’t know. I’m now locking it.
She said that she often sees people who live in the alley, and sometimes they help her take out the trash. She has seen people look into parked cars, though.
Adam Pierpoint has been sleeping in the alley for a few months now and stays by himself. He said it wasn’t a surprise that the person who broke into the car was caught.
Pierpoint said the area was safe and that USC students don’t bother him very often.
He said, “I’m homeless, but I’m not a bother.”
