Saul A. Romero was 50 years old when he died on Tuesday, May 12, 2020, in Carson, a city in the South Bay region of Los Angeles County. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after sustaining blunt force trauma near 110 East Sepulveda Boulevard. His death was ruled a homicide, and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau took the case.
He was a Latino man who had just reached 50. Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Saul A. Romero 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 shared by many people, and searches turned up only others with the same name.
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.
Carson is a city of about 95,000 people between Compton, Torrance and Long Beach, home to California State University, Dominguez Hills, and to the soccer stadium now known as Dignity Health Sports Park. It is one of the most diverse cities in the county, with large Latino, Black, Filipino and Samoan communities. Sepulveda Boulevard crosses the southern part of the city near the 405 Freeway and the large oil refinery that borders Carson and Wilmington, passing apartment complexes, motels, mobile home parks and businesses. Carson contracts with the Sheriff's Department for police services through its Carson Station.
His death came in May 2020, two months into the pandemic, when much of Los Angeles County was still under stay-at-home orders. 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.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Saul A. Romero could be found in news archives or public records. More than six years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. People who live or work near the 100 block of East Sepulveda Boulevard may remember a fight, a crash or a police response in mid-May 2020, and anyone who knew him may hold information that could help detectives. 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 contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
