BROTHERS SOUGHT IN RETALIATION GANG SLAYING.

Byline: Bhavna Mistry Staff Writer

VAN NUYS - Two brothers of a man shot to death in Canyon Country earlier this year are wanted in what investigators say was a retaliatory slaying in Van Nuys, Los Angeles police said Tuesday.

LAPD homicide investigators have an arrest warrant for Carlos Flores, 24, and want to question Alberto Flores, 33, in connection with the February death of Jesse Alvarado, 23, of Van Nuys. They believe the pair killed Alvarado to avenge their brother's death a month earlier.

``We've done more than enough to know they are responsible for the killing,'' said Detective Al Aldaz of the Los Angeles Police Department's Van Nuys station. ``They are both responsible for the shooting death of Jesse Alvarado.''

Victor Flores of Piru was found shot to death Jan. 15 in a culvert along Sierra Highway in Canyon Country. Friends and family say he was visiting the Santa Clarita area where he had spent the night at a friend's house and was heading home before he was killed.

Alvarado, a Van Nuys father of a 3-year-old, was found dead in his apartment in the 6200 block of Hazeltine Avenue by his former girlfriend. The former Canyon Country resident had been shot multiple times in the upper body.

Though he had been shot in the early morning hours of Feb. 25, Alvarado's body was not discovered until 18 hours later, police said. No witnesses have come forward, officials added.

``This is a typical senseless gang homicide where young kids are killing themselves instead of bonding or uniting to help one another,'' Aldaz said. ``In this case, blood proved thicker than allegiance to the gang because they sought revenge for their brother's death.''

The two suspects and Alvarado belonged to the Canyon Country gang Canyonas, while Victor Flores belonged to a rival gang, Young Brown Familia, officials said.

Though Alvarado hadn't lived in the Santa Clarita Valley in more that four years, he continued to associate with the gang that had formed at Canyon High School, investigators said.

As part of their investigation, officials learned Carlos Flores believed that Alvarado had shot his brother.

``He concluded or believed in his mind that our victim killed his brother,'' Aldaz said. ``He had made some statements.''

Los Angeles County sheriff's detectives have no suspect in Flores' death.

Carlos and Alberto Flores last lived in the Canyon Country area, and are now at large.

While an arrest warrant has been issued for Carlos Flores, the District Attorney's Office didn't feel there was sufficient evidence to issue a warrant for the elder brother.

``We're looking to talk to him, to either clear him or find out what his involvement was,'' Aldaz said of Alberto Flores.

Investigators also believe Flores' death prompted a retaliation killing of a 19-year-old Canyon Country man who was found beaten and stabbed a day after Flores' body was found.

Byron Benito died Jan. 16 at a Canyon Country mobile-home park, stabbed more than 30 times with numerous sharp objects. Several suspects have been arrested in that case. Investigators believe Benito had nothing to do with the Flores shooting.

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(color) CARLOS FLORES