An unsolved murder at a sprawling and upscale Valley Village apartment complex has residents on edge and, reportedly, furious with building management who they say have done nothing to address ongoing security issues, some of which predate the grisly crime.
In audio obtained by KTLA, a dispatch operator with Los Angeles Police Department is heard relaying to officers at around 3 a.m. on April 23 what a nearby resident heard coming from unit 514 on the top floor of the Ashton Sherman Village Apartments in the 12600 block of Riverside Drive.
“I just woke up to some loud noises, something crashing,” the tenant, who did not want to be identified, told KTLA. “There was screaming, and I called our security and, also, right after that, I called the police.”
Resident Kaci Harabedian, who showed KTLA’s Kareen Wynter around the building Thursday, believes that when police initially arrived at the fifth-floor apartment, it was quiet and so they never attempted to go inside.
The tenant in apartment 514, now identified as 53-year-old Menashe “Manny” Hidra, was found dead inside three days later, on April 26, only after his cousin called police for a welfare check.
“So, the guy must have been dead for a couple of days,” Harabedian explained.
Footage from doorbell cameras belonging to several residents captured a man, who police have identified as a possible suspect, roaming the halls shortly before the murder and attempting to get into several different units.
Many in the building told KTLA that it appears that whoever committed the murder entered an empty fifth-floor apartment and then climbed from that balcony to the victim’s balcony.
Photos of the building’s bloodstained exterior between the two balconies bolster those claims, as well as a photo of a bloodstained door handle leading to an exit stairwell where the killer may have fled after the murder.
LAPD has been tight-lipped about the details of the murder, only saying in a news release that a “suspect unlawfully entered the victim’s apartment and a physical altercation ensued, which resulted in the victim’s death.”
Some residents, who did not want to be identified, told KTLA tensions are high in the complex, with many of them, perhaps even the murdered victim himself, complaining to management for months about unsecured entrances, broken security fobs and transients living on the roof of the building.
“Yesterday, when the police released the [suspect] photos, it’s very clear that is a transient,” Harabedian said.
Building employees have also reportedly been taking down photos of the suspect put up by residents. Additionally, according to at least two tenants, management has never really acknowledged the murder, only addressing it as the “incident” in an email.
“What are they going to do to keep us safe, what security measures are they taking,” another resident said regarding management.
KTLA has repeatedly reached out to management at the Ashton Sherman Village Apartments for comment, though, so far, have not received any response.
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