Manuel Silva Garibay was 32 years old when he died on Sunday, December 2, 2018, in Pasadena. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after sustaining blunt force trauma near 143 North Mar Vista Avenue. His death was ruled a homicide, and the case is listed with the Pasadena Police Department.
He was a Latino man in his early 30s. Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Manuel Silva Garibay 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. Searches for his name turned up only other men named Manuel Garibay, including one who died of cancer years later.
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 gives a street address on North Mar Vista Avenue, a residential street, which may mean he was hurt in or near a home rather than on a commercial boulevard. It does not say whether he lived there.
Pasadena is a city of about 140,000 people at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains, best known for the Rose Parade, the Rose Bowl, the California Institute of Technology and its grand Craftsman homes. Beyond those famous landmarks, it is a city of working neighborhoods as well, with apartment buildings and modest bungalows on side streets north and south of Colorado Boulevard. The city has its own police department, and homicides there number only a handful in most years, so each one usually receives close attention from detectives. Even so, cases with no witnesses willing to come forward can stall.
His death came on the first Sunday of December, at the start of the holiday season. Homicides across Los Angeles County in 2018 were near their lowest levels in decades, yet a large share of killings still ended without an arrest. The death of a 32-year-old man from blunt force injuries on a residential street in Pasadena does not appear to have been reported by any news outlet, and no family fundraiser or memorial that clearly refers to him could be found.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Manuel Silva Garibay could be found in news archives or public records. Nearly eight years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Neighbors on North Mar Vista Avenue may remember a fight, an argument or a police response in early December 2018, 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 Pasadena Police Department, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
