4 NEWS
SANTA ANA COLLEGE el Don/eldonnews.org • MONDAY, MARCH 14, 2016
NATHAN ALFARO / His band, The West Boys,
played at a Burger Records show last year. The
23-year-old died March 3. / Courtesy Facebook
Death
Downtown
Orange County musician stabbed at a
Santa Ana nightclub during punk show
BY JOANNA MEZA / el Don
A 21-year-old Santa Ana man was arrested on suspicion of murder following a
fatal stabbing March 3 at a music venue in
downtown Santa Ana, police said.
Juan Angel Rivera has been charged with
killing Nathan Joe Alfaro, who was stabbed
in the moshpit of a Top Acid-promoted
show inside Underground DTSA. Rivera
was set to be arraigned March 8 but the
hearing was rescheduled for March 25.
Oscar Ramirez, a friend of Alfaro who was
present at the event and was set to perform
with The Hurricanes, remembers seeing
Rivera leaving through the back exit with a
group of people.
“I recall seeing the guy leaving quickly with two or three girls and one guy, I
believe. My friend and I noticed his shirt
ripped up and he pointed out that there
must’ve been a fight inside,” Rivera said.
“I did not know what had happened
because I was unloading my gear outside,”
Rivera added.
Witnesses say Alfaro stumbled outside
and was bleeding as he fell into the arms of
one of his friends after a fight broke out in
the middle of Ghali’s set.
“I couldn’t believe it. I rushed over to see
him and as I went, he was collapsing on the
wall outside the main entrance. People were
exiting and looking and another friend was
holding him,” Rivera said.
Paramedics took Alfaro, already in critical
condition, to UCI Medical Center in Orange, where he was pronounced dead.
“We were close friends. He was here just
to have a good time, he loved music,” fellow
musician Nick Espinoza said.
Underground DTSA has yet to reopen.
Alfaro, 23, was going through a tough
time in his life, and immersed himself in
the music scene after his father committed
suicide last year, his friend and bandmate
David Lopez said.
“He was doing great. His vibe was positive.
He had moved in with his uncle and finally
had his own room,” Lopez said.
Lopez, along with his brother Nick and
Alfaro, formed a band named The West
Boys. They performed around Orange
County. The band played at a Burger Records show last year.
“He was so stoked. I couldn’t believe it, he
made one of his dreams come true, and we
opened up for 60s punk legends The Sloths,”
Lopez said.
Alfaro and his friends had taken a break
from playing due to work and class schedules, but they had kept in contact and were
planning on starting up again. Alfaro was
taking courses at Golden West College,
where he worked in the cafeteria.
“We talked about getting back to playing
shows together and totally just imagining and brainstorming ideas for the band.
‘Dude, we are going to be so sick!’,” Lopez
recalls Alfaro saying. “We had plans to do
a LP and release it soon. We were both
excited and looking forward to it. I’m so
sad right now that we can never have that
chance again.”
Top Acid will be hosting a benefit concert
Sunday April 3 at the Yost Theatre to raise
money for Alfaro’s family.
“I believe the music scene will still triumph and continue to grow. In his honor.”
Ramirez said.