'SAFE' CITY RECORDS SECOND HOMICIDE.

Byline: Kerry Cavanaugh Staff Writer

The death of a man who was shot in the neck is the second homicide in a week in Simi Valley, which has consistently ranked among the safest cities in the nation, officials said Saturday.

The killings Nov. 29 and on Friday night were unrelated and represent the first and second homicides in Simi Valley for the entire year of 2003, officials said.

``There have been years when there are none,'' Lt. Ron Chambers said of the city's low number of killings. ``It's unusual in this city to have two in a week.''

Friday evening, 30-year-old Angel Luevano of Simi Valley was shot in the neck and died on the driveway of a home on the 900 block of Ashland Avenue, police said. Luevano and his brother were leaving the house when a passing brown or black sport-utility vehicle stopped in the street nearby.

The two men walked to the SUV to talk to the occupants and, following a brief conversation, a passenger fired a handgun at Luevano, police said.

After the SUV left, as the two brothers headed back toward the house, Angel Luevano collapsed on the driveway.

Simi Valley Police investigators said Luevano and his brother didn't know the three people in the SUV. They were described as two Hispanic men - one in his late teens or early 20s and one in his late 20s to early 30s - and a white man in his late teens or early 20s.

Anyone with information should call the Police Department at [phone].

The first killing of 2003 was a murder-suicide involving a husband and wife on Nov. 29, authorities said.

Kerry Cavanaugh, [phone]

kerry.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com