Nicholas Karaponas, a beloved, gentle man, went to work as a custodian at 4:00pm on Friday, August 2, 1991. As usual he helped some students cross the street and then he settled in to clean the classroom. However, unlike normal, he didn’t return home by 11:00pm and his wife started to worry. His anxious wife contacted the security police where they found Nick’s body close to midnight. Nick had been stabbed to death.

At some point during the evening while Nick was cleaning room 62 several gang members from a local gang came into the school and stabbed Nick several times in his upper back. They took his keys, took the weapon and fled. At the time it was unclear if anything was stolen.

Nick will be remembered as a “very nice, gentle man” with a heart of gold. The neighbor hood of Edmondson Elementary School in Norwalk, California.