The family of a man who was stabbed to death in California is speaking out about the devastating incident.
Reinaldo Lefonts was just 68-years-old when he was brutally killed by a homeless man while trying to charge his Tesla outside Downey City Library in September 2025. The suspect, later identified as 23-year-old Giovanni Navarro, allegedly committed the horrific crime following an argument that took place in the parking lot. Police claim that the young man tried to flee toward the local high school and was quickly placed into custody.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, paramedics racing to save Lefonts’s life were significantly hindered when 52-year-old Nicholas DeMarco, yet another homeless man, allegedly jumped into the ambulance and drove away with it. The family has filed a $40m tort claim against the city for his death.
The Daily Mail has additional details:
According to the tort claim reviewed by the Daily Mail, the grandfather did not get the necessary medical treatment he needed to survive his wounds.
‘In that moment, every second mattered. The City’s paramedics and rescue vehicle were Reinaldo’s only realistic chance of survival,’ the legal document read.
‘However, the City’s paramedics failed to provide necessary medical aid and failed to transport Reinaldo promptly to a nearby hospital,’ it continued.
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“After snatching the emergency vehicle, DeMarco led cops on a high-speed chase to Alhambra, about 25 minutes from Downey,” the outlet’s report continued. “He then crashed the vehicle and was arrested, attorneys for the family said.”
While the complaint centered on what happened to Lefonts, it also noted that such criminal happenings were quite common for the area he was in, which city officials were aware of prior to the grandfather’s death.
“This also wasn’t Navarro’s first run-in with the law, as he was previously arrested for trespassing at the Civic Center less than 24 hours before he allegedly stabbed the man,” DM notes in their article. “He was charged with murder and a special allegation of using a weapon to commit the crime.”
A lawyer for the family crunched the numbers, discovering a shocking “675 calls for service at the library and Civic Center came through between January 1, 2022, and December 31, 2025.” One of the cases was for the shooting death of Downey Police Officer Ricardo Galvez, who was sitting in his vehicle in the parking lot when he was gunned down. This took place in the same area where Lefonts lost his life.
Other crimes include sex crimes, robberies, assaults, theft, drug charges and arson, according to the claim.
“The City of Downey knew this parking lot was dangerous,” said Alexi Galindo, head attorney for the family. “They knew the man who killed Reinaldo had just been arrested there the day before. They knew their rescue vehicle wasn’t properly equipped. And still, they did nothing. Reinaldo died within reach of help that should have been there. His family deserves answers, accountability and justice.”
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Sierra Marlee is a millennial whose hunger for the truth in a world of fake news has led her to write. Marlee also contributes to BizPac Review.
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