Unsupervised Walnut Creek party a factor in second suburban teen's death

In May, Joseph Loudon, 16 collapsed at a party in Orinda, hosted by an 18-year-old neighbor and rugby teammate whose parents were not at home. Police suspect Loudon had been drinking too much, and some 50 to 60 young people—including Miramonte high school students—were at the party where there was reportedly a keg of beer and bottles of hard liquor available.

Last week, a 17-year-old Rodeo boy was dropped off at Kaiser's emergency room with fatal stab wounds. Police learned that he had been at a party in the Saranap neighborhood of Walnut Creek, and that some kind of argument in a home had spilled out into the street, where things turned violent and the stabbing took place. Daniel Avanesyan, 18, who lives in Walnut Creek's Tice Valley area, has been charged with murder in connection with the death of Jonart Yambao Jr.

Walnut Creek police Sgt. Tom Cashion confirms that the party at the home on Clover Lane was unsupervised and the parents were not at home and unaware of what was happening at their house. He adds that "most of the party goers were 17 and 18 years old."

(According to police, the stabbing took place near the above intersection where Clover Lane meets Nicholson Road, just below the overpass at the Interstate 680/24 junction. Yes, the irony of the signs for Neighborhood Watch and Watch for Kids.)

As for alcohol, Cashion says there was some at the party but "at this time does not appear to have played a role in the stabbing." Cashion said he couldn't release more information about the case because it is still under investigation. However, in light of the death of the Orinda teen at what's been described as an out-of-control party, he was willing to confirm the fact that the backdrop for Jonart's stabbing death was an unsupervised party in order "to encourage parents to keep their children under closer supervision."