Liborio Romero was 50 years old when he died on Friday, September 9, 2016, in Vermont Vista. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after sustaining blunt force trauma at 11325 S. Figueroa St. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau case.
Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Liborio 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. Liborio is not a common first name in Southern California, but the name Liborio Romero still turns up in records from Mexico, New Mexico, Idaho and elsewhere, and none of those records could be tied to the man who died in Vermont Vista.
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 address recorded for his death is a specific street number on Figueroa Street rather than an intersection or a block, which suggests that he may have been found at or near a particular building, though the record does not say whether that was a home, a business or an open lot.
Vermont Vista is a small unincorporated community in the southern part of Los Angeles, surrounded largely by neighborhoods of the city of Los Angeles. Because it is not part of any city, it has no police department of its own, and law enforcement there is handled by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Figueroa Street is one of the longest streets in the Los Angeles area, running from the hills north of downtown all the way to the harbor, and in this part of the city it is lined with homes, small businesses and apartment buildings.
Neighbors, drivers and shop workers on that stretch of Figueroa Street might have noticed an argument, a fight or a man on the ground without realizing that what they saw ended in a death.
Hundreds of people are killed in Los Angeles County every year, and a large share of those killings end without an arrest.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Liborio Romero could be found in news archives or public records. More than nine years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who was on South Figueroa Street in Vermont Vista in early September 2016, or who knew Liborio Romero, his family or his friends, may hold information that could help investigators. 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.
