Luis Hernandez Sanchez was 53 years old when he died on Monday, September 7, 2020, Labor Day, in Koreatown. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after sustaining blunt force trauma near the intersection of Westmoreland and Leeward avenues. His death was ruled a homicide, and the case was assigned to the Los Angeles Police Department's West Bureau Homicide detectives.
He was a Latino man in his early 50s. Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Luis Hernandez Sanchez has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for this story, and no news outlet appears to have reported on the death. He surely had family, friends or neighbors who remember who he was, but none of that has entered the public record. His name is a common one, and searches turned up only other people who share it.
Because so little has been released, even the basic circumstances remain unknown to the public. The record does not say whether he was beaten in a fight, attacked by a stranger, assaulted indoors or on the street, or struck by a vehicle, all of which can lead to a finding of blunt force trauma. It does not say what time of day he was hurt, whether he died at the scene or later at a hospital, whether anyone saw what happened, or whether investigators ever identified a suspect. The record places his death at a street corner, not at a home address, which leaves open whether he was attacked there, found there, or struck by a vehicle.
Koreatown is one of the most densely populated neighborhoods in the United States, a few miles west of downtown Los Angeles. Despite its name, the majority of its residents are Latino, many of them immigrants from Mexico and Central America, living alongside a large Korean American community in apartment buildings that line nearly every block. Westmoreland Avenue runs north and south a few blocks east of Vermont Avenue, and Leeward Avenue is a short residential street between Wilshire Boulevard and Olympic Boulevard. The area is crowded day and night, with many people on foot and many living on the street, especially during the pandemic.
Homicides rose sharply across Los Angeles County in 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, after years of relatively low numbers, and detectives were stretched across a growing caseload. Many of those killings were shootings that drew at least brief coverage on local television. The death of a 53-year-old man at a Koreatown street corner on a holiday does not appear to have been reported.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Luis Hernandez Sanchez could be found in news archives or public records. Nearly six years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. People who live in the apartment buildings around Westmoreland and Leeward avenues may remember a fight, a crash or a police response on Labor Day 2020, and anyone who knew him may hold information that could help. Even a small detail, such as a name overheard, a vehicle seen nearby or a conversation remembered, can help detectives move a case forward. Anyone with information can call the Los Angeles Police Department at 877-527-3247 or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
