Rosemead High School student identified as teen stabbed to death in El Monte

Family members have identified 15-year-old Rosemead High School student Aziel Zacapala as the boy killed in a stabbing outside an elementary school in El Monte on July 10.

A candlelight vigil was held for Zacapala at the Rosemead skate park at 6 p.m. Saturday. The original location of the vigil was moved from 9700 Fern Street in El Monte, where the stabbing happened, as homicide detectives continue to investigate the scene.

Zacapala was one of three people stabbed during a fight that broke out on Fern Street around 1 p.m., according to information released by the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department and the El Monte Police Department. Authorities were called to a local emergency room that afternoon, where two adults and Zacapala were being treated for stab wounds.

Zacapala was pronounced dead at the hospital. The adult victims are in stable condition and expected to survive, authorities said.

A GoFundMe page created to help Zacapala’s family pay for funeral expenses described the slain teen as a “beloved nephew, friend, son and high school football player” … “whose life was tragically cut short.”

“Aziel was a good kid, full of promise and kindness, and he had big dreams of making it to the big leagues as a football player,” the GoFundMe page reads. “His absence leaves a deep void in our family and community.”

Zacapala, known as “AZ” by fellow Rosemead High School students, was playing football with friends at Rosemead Park’s Fourth of July event days before the suspected attack, his family said. Now his loved ones are asking for community support as they mourn his death.

“His mother, who is currently unemployed and raising two other young children — including a newborn — has been doing Instacart orders just to stay afloat,” the GoFundMe reads. “Now, she faces the overwhelming daily hardships of supporting her family during this devastating time.”

As of Saturday night, the GoFundMe has raised $16,000 of its $24,000 goal.

No suspects were found at the scene of the stabbing and no arrests have been made in the case, authorities said.

“Investigators are still working to determine whether more than one suspect was involved,” LASD deputies said Saturday morning. “Currently, there is no suspect description available.”

Anyone with information about the stabbings is asked to call the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500.