Milton Corona was 40 years old when he died on Friday, November 1, 2019, in downtown Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after sustaining blunt force trauma at the northwest corner of 6th and Spring streets. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles Police Department case handled by the department's Central area.
He was a Latino man of 40. Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Milton Corona 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.
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 busy downtown street corner, not at a home address.
The corner of 6th and Spring streets is in downtown's Historic Core, a district of early 20th-century office buildings, banks and theaters that were converted into lofts, restaurants and bars during the downtown revival of the 2000s and 2010s. It is a few blocks west of Skid Row, and the two worlds overlap on its sidewalks, where new residents, office workers, nightlife crowds and unhoused people all share the same streets. The area is crowded on weekend nights, and a fight or assault there could have been seen by many people.
His death came on the morning after Halloween, one of the busiest nights of the year downtown. Los Angeles recorded about 260 homicides in 2019, among the lowest yearly totals in more than half a century, yet many of those killings still went unsolved. The death of a 40-year-old man from blunt force injuries at a well-known downtown corner does not appear to have been reported.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Milton Corona could be found in news archives or public records. Nearly seven years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who was near 6th and Spring streets on Halloween night 2019 or in the early hours of November 1, or who knew him, may hold information that could help. Businesses and residential buildings in the area are often equipped with cameras. 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.
