Mark Everett, who was known as the stage name of former child actor Manuel Benitez, was shot dead today on December 24. Mark Everett,was killed during a shootout with Los Angeles Police at a Chinese restaurant in El Monte where he held his son Benjamin Everett as a hostage. The 38-year-old is on the run since he killed girlfriend Stephanie Spears in 2004.
Detectives today identified a 38-year old Hawthorne murder fugitive who took his 7-year-old son hostage at gunpoint, barricaded himself and the child inside an El Monte restaurant bathroom, and then triggered a bloody standoff that left the suspect dead and the boy wounded.
The hostage-taker was identified as Manuel Benitez of Hawthorne, who's also known as Mark Everett, Mike Evers, Manuel Velasco, and Manuel De Velasco, according to the FBI's Web site. ...
The events that culminated with Benitez's death began about 2:30 p.m. Tuesday when El Monte police responded to a call of a suspicious person with a child near the intersection of Ramona Boulevard and Santa Anita Avenue, sheriff's Sgt. David Infante said.
When officers arrived at the scene, they found Benitez armed with a handgun. Benitez then reportedly grabbed his son -- Benjamin, who is biracial, Black and Latino -- and positioned him between himself and police, Infante said.
Benitez then took the boy inside Tai Pan Chinese Food, at 3580 Santa Anita Ave., and locked himself and the child inside a bathroom, threatening to kill himself, Benjamin, and any responding officers, Infante said.
Crisis negotiators entered the restaurant, establishing communication with the man for roughly two hours, but he refused to comply with their requests to surrender or release the child, Infante said.
Hours into the standoff, the bathroom door opened, and the Special Weapons Crisis Entry Team deployed a flash-bang device inside the room. The team then entered the bathroom, attempting to rescue the boy and take the suspect into custody, he said.
Then, "an officer-involved shooting occurred," Infante said, adding that the suspect suffered a gunshot wound, and was pronounced dead at the scene. Two handguns in Benitez's possession were recovered following the shooting, he added.
