Man stabbed to death steps away from art memorial for murder victims

Echo Park Lake is a serene spot where people walk amongst the greenery and wildlife, but if you're passing by it's hard not to miss a tall concrete structure that's seemingly out of place.

"It's a really large piece and that's why I went over to read the inscription on it," walker, Amanda Madigan, said.

That inscription found on the objects South wall said it's dedicated to the 975 people murdered in greater Los Angeles since January 2015.

The artist, Teresa Margolles, created the work as part of the LA Public Art Biennial, which runs through mid-August.

"I think that death is very much a part of the metropolis and she always had a way of mixing the elements or ingredients of death into her artwork," Alvaro Parra, who is a fan of the artist, said.

For an entire year, the artist and her team collected water samples from a hundred murder scenes throughout the city found in public areas.

Co-Curator of the LA Art Biennial, Irene Tsatsos, described the process.

"Spreading water over each site she would gather the water that remained in the sponge and empty it into a bucket and load up her sponge again," Tsatos said.

Those water samples were then mixed with the concrete used to build the structure.

Ironically, hours after the installation went up on Thursday, police said a 20-year-old man was stabbed to death several yards away near the park restroom.

"There's a long history of death in this very park, in this very body of water and that piece is here to have us reflect upon it," Parra said.

And that's the artist's intent.

She wants passerby's to take a moment and sit underneath the structure she calls "La Sombra" or "The Shade" and have a moment of peace in a world too often filled with violence.

Police said they don't have a suspect in Thursday's night murder.

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