K-Pop Star Samuel Arredono Kim's Father Killed In Home Invasion In Cabo
Jose Arredondo was a prominent businessman and father to 17-year-old K-Pop star Samuel.
Instagram Businessman and father of K-Pop star Samuel Arrendono Kim has been murdered in a home invasion in Mexico. Jose Arredondo, the owner of several car dealerships in Southern California, was found beaten and stabbed in Cabo San Lucas. So far, police in Mexico are not releasing any information about possible suspects or motives.
Arredondo’s famous son, who lives in South Korea, is a well known musician and television personality. He has not commented on the loss of his father and has set his social media accounts to private at this time.
Why was Jose Arredondo murdered? Who is Samuel Arrendono Kim? We have all the details.
1. American dream
Arredondo was born in Mexico and came to the United States at the age of 11. He crossed the border illegally with his sister to join their mother who was living in Valencia, California. His father had passed away before he decided to emigrate, according to his business website.
As a young man, he got a job washing cars at a dealership and drew the attention of management through his strong work ethic. He was promoted through the ranks to salesman, where he sold 12 cars in his first month alone, according to The Heavy. He ultimately owned his own car dealerships and was well-known as a successful businessman in his community. Because he never finished high school, he was eager to help others further their education and gave out 100 scholarships per year. His wife Laura is originally from Korea and their son Samuel made early appearances in commercials for the family business.
Arredondo was a businessman and father.
2. Samuel
Arredondo’s son Samuel has risen to fame as a K-Pop sensation. He made his first television appearance in South Korea when he was 11-years-old as a performer in a series about another K-Pop boy-band called Seventeen. In 2015, he teamed up with rapper One and the two of them performed as 1Punch and gained attention with the single “Turn Me Back”. After signing with a new agency, 1Punch parted ways, and Samuel, still performing as Punch, collaborated with Silentó to release the single "Spotlight" in 2016. The single won 26th Seoul Music Award for Global Collaboration.
In 2017, using his own name, Samuel went on a Korean talent show called Produce 101, where he competed or a chance to be in a boy band. He was eliminated at the very end, shocking viewers. Since then, he has released a number of solo albums and appears as the host of a show called Pops in Seoul.
Samuel's father has died.
3. Jose's Death
At the moment authorities are keeping the death of his father fairly quiet, according to US News. The Mexican police and the State Department have revealed that he was killed in San Jose del Cabo in a home invasion situation and that the cause of death is blunt force trauma. However, his pastor told local news outlets that Arredondo was stabbed. At this time, a representative from the US Department of State will only say that "We are closely monitoring local authorities' investigation into the cause of death."
He was killed during a home invasion.
4. Faith community
Arredondo was well known within the congregation of the New Life Church of Bakersfield. He attended the church for over 20 years and helped raise money for church projects, often by donating cars from his dealership. His pastor, James Ranger, posted to Facebook about Arredondo’s death, calling it murder and saying: “Jose Arredondo was murdered last night. He was not only a member of our NLC family, but a great friend to Lydia and I over the last 20+ years...and a great friend to our NLC family. Over the years he donated 4 new cars to NLC to raffle off for our causes of expansion, through which we raised many, many, thousands of dollars. This is the most recent...two years 1/2 ago when we were raising money to renovate the Terrace Campus when we first adopted it….I will miss you my dear friend....until we meet again.”
His pastor shared his warm memories of Arredondo.
5. Criminal ties
According to report at Bakersfield.com, there have been rumors in the past about Arredondo’s alleged ties to crime. In 2006, Arredondo was asked about rumors that he had connections to the illegal drug trade and he replied “I don't understand why people have so much focus on me instead of worrying about their stuff. People think, 'Hey, wait a minute. This cannot be real. He must be dealing or doing things. How can he be so generous?’"
Pro golfer Billy Faeth, who once worked for Arredondo stepped up for him in 2006, saying: “Everything I've heard is completely unfounded and, to be honest, it gets me very upset — not because I work for him, but because he's a friend.” And Arredondo’s pastor, Jim Ranger, attributes the rumors to jealousy from competitors, saying "I never saw, ever saw anything that would make me think otherwise."
Samuel is a major star in Korea.
6. Family Reaction
At this time, Samuel has made no comments about the death of his father. In fact, the pop star has retreated from the public eye completely since the news broke, taking both his Instagram and Twitter accounts private for a time.
No statement has been issued by the family.
We send our condolences to the Arrendondo family at this tragic moment.
Rebekah Kuschmider has been writing about celebrities, pop culture, entertainment, and politics since 2010. Her work has been seen at Ravishly, Babble, Scary Mommy, The Mid, Redbook online, and The Broad Side. She is the creator of the blog Stay at Home Pundit and she is a cohost of the weekly podcast The More Perfect Union.