Josefina Alcocer-Estrada was 48 years old when she was killed early on Friday, February 26, 2016, in La Mirada. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, she died after sustaining blunt force trauma in the 14300 block of Firestone Boulevard. Her death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department case.
Josefina lived in Buena Park and was a longtime employee of the In-N-Out Burger restaurant on Firestone Boulevard. She had worked there since 1996, and she was one of the original employees when the La Mirada store opened. That morning she arrived at work about 4 a.m. and was working in the kitchen with other employees. About 4:45 a.m. she went outside to throw trash into the restaurant's outside bin, and she had not been outside very long when she was struck multiple times by an unknown assailant, Lt. Steve Jauch of the Sheriff's Homicide Bureau said.
"She had multiple blunt force trauma, like she was beaten with a baseball bat," Jauch told the Los Angeles Times. "We don't know what killed her or who killed her, but it was some kind of force to her head." An employee of a neighboring business noticed someone lying in the parking lot and called 911, and a short time later an In-N-Out co-worker saw her and called for help. She was pronounced dead at the scene at 5:08 a.m.
At first, sheriff's officials said she appeared to have suffered a gunshot wound to the upper torso. An autopsy on February 28 found that she had been beaten to death and not shot. Jauch said detectives did not know the motive and that no one had been arrested. Detectives interviewed her husband, whom Jauch described as cooperative, and reviewed surveillance video, though they declined to say whether it produced any leads. "It's certainly peculiar, having an employee on duty killed," Jauch said. "It's not something you hear about every day."
Her death was also mourned in Mexico. Newspapers there reported that Josefina was born in Pénjamo, in the state of Guanajuato, into a large family of seven daughters and six sons, and that her mother and siblings planned to travel to the United States after her death.
La Mirada is a quiet suburban city in southeastern Los Angeles County, on the border with Orange County. It is known for its residential neighborhoods, its parks, the La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts and Biola University. Firestone Boulevard is one of its main commercial corridors, lined with restaurants, shops and other businesses. Before dawn, the parking lots along Firestone are likely to be nearly empty, which may help explain why no witness to the attack has been publicly identified.
Hundreds of people are killed in Los Angeles County every year, and a large share of those killings end without an arrest. Her killing drew wide attention in 2016, yet no one has been charged.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Josefina Alcocer-Estrada 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 Firestone Boulevard in the early morning of February 26, 2016, or who knew Josefina, 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 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.
