Police Are Still Searching for the Drivers Responsible for Intentionally Running Teen Over

The LAPD South Traffic Division is still sorting through details after a deadly hit-and-run over the weekend left a 17-year-old dead.

The teen was struck by two different cars in the middle of the street.

Lauren a friend dropped by to pay her respects. Standing in the cluttered stretch of 62nd St. where Matthew Lobos’ memorial now sits are dozens of candles and flowers.

She told us she found out what happened on social media.

“Teen party and a warehouse I said ‘Oh my God Lobos,'” Lauren said.

The LAPD says an argument broke out during a party here near the Avalon intersection early Sunday morning.

In the chaos that followed someone drove down the street in a white sedan and intentionally hit the Santee High School senior. They then crashed into a light pole and ran away.

A second car then exited a parking lot, driving over him two more times.

“There were a number of people in the street at the time these cars were driving into the crowd,” said Detective Jerry Gibson of the LAPD.

Both drivers are still at large as police continue to investigate.

“He used to always have little parties and they seemed like they were pretty good,” Lauren said.

But Lauren says she never accepted his invitations because she’s older and it wasn’t really her “crowd.”

Some business owners nearby declined to be interviewed but told us 62nd St. is a popular place for street racing and parties after sundown.

Lobos’ cousin, Irvin Espinosa-Hernandez, confirmed the information. He also declined the invitations.

“He had invited me. Invited me to come,” Espinosa-Hernandez said.

Now Espinosa-Hernandez joins the rest of the the teen’s family and friends in mourning his loss.

A young man with so much promise ahead as he’d just begun his senior year of high school.

“Young and with a lot of energy,” Espinosa-Hernandez said. “No gang affiliations.”

Lauren told NBC4 that she became friends with Lobos just last year. It was an unlikely friendship that emerged after a confrontation.

“There was a group of guys at the beach that tried to fight us because of our skin color,” Lauren said.

Lobos stepped in and talked them out of it, diffusing the situation for everyone.

Lauren says that’s what lost here, a peacemaker at heart.