On the early morning of Friday, February 16, 2007, seventy-three-year-old Rita Joanne Moreno passed away at a residence located at 1706 Florida Street in Long Beach, California. Known affectionately to those closest to her as Joanne, the Hispanic woman had lived in Long Beach since 1958 after being born and raised in Henderson, Kentucky. At her bedside when she died were her four children. Initially, the circumstances of her passing were treated by family as the peaceful culmination of a prolonged and brave battle with failing health.
However, the medical examination into her death soon revealed a disturbing reality. Less than one week after she passed away, officials with the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner examined her body during an autopsy. Rather than finding evidence of an entirely natural passing, the examination uncovered distinct physical indications of both beatings and physical neglect. Concluding that trauma inflicted by the hand of another person contributed to her death, the coroner officially classified Moreno's manner of death as a homicide.
The shocking autopsy findings prompted the coroner to refer the matter directly to the Long Beach Police Department for a criminal investigation. Recognizing the complex nature of the allegations, police officials assigned the case to Sergeant Keith Gregrow of the department's Elder Abuse Unit alongside Homicide Detectives Teryl Hubert and Russ Moss. Together, detectives sought to reconstruct the final weeks and months of Moreno's life on Florida Street, attempting to establish the caregiving conditions in the household and who was responsible for the physical injuries and neglect she endured.
Remembered fondly throughout her neighborhood, Moreno had spent nearly five decades residing in Long Beach. Despite never driving an automobile, she was a familiar presence in the neighborhood, often seen bustling on foot around town with a petite frame to run daily errands and greet neighbors. Family and friends recalled her striking green eyes, black hair, vivacious personality, and kindhearted nature. She held a deep love for poetry, art, music, roses, and walks along the beach, and had a reputation for opening her home to care for stray neighborhood cats.
Following months of inquiry, Long Beach investigators compiled their evidentiary findings and formally presented the case to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, identifying a specific suspect believed to be responsible for Moreno's death. In July 2007, however, prosecutors informed police detectives that they had declined to pursue criminal charges against the named suspect, determining that the evidence did not meet the standard required for criminal prosecution beyond a reasonable doubt.
The case briefly resurfaced in 2010 when an individual contacted the press claiming that Moreno's death had not been a homicide. In response, reporters reviewed the official records with the coroner's office, where authorities affirmed that the ruling of homicide stood unchanged. Although the medical examiner established that Moreno died as a result of abuse and neglect, no one has ever been charged, convicted, or held accountable in a court of law. Her homicide remains an unresolved case within the files of the Long Beach Police Department.
