Jose Gonzalez was 51 years old when he died on Sunday, April 19, 2015, in Venice, the beach community on the Westside of Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after sustaining blunt force trauma near 1401 Abbot Kinney Boulevard. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles Police Department West Bureau Homicide case.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report listed him as a Latino man. Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Jose Gonzalez 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. Jose Gonzalez is one of the most common names in the Spanish-speaking world and in Southern California, and searches turn up thousands of other men, including musicians, athletes and people in court cases across the country, none of whom can be tied to the man who died in Venice.
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 coroner's records describe the location as near an address rather than at it, which suggests that he may have been found outdoors, on a sidewalk or street close to that property. That is an inference only; the record does not say where he was when he was hurt or whether he had any connection to the address.
Venice is known around the world for its boardwalk, its canals and its artists. Abbot Kinney Boulevard, named for the developer who founded Venice in the early 1900s, runs diagonally through the community and by 2015 had become one of the most fashionable shopping and dining streets in Los Angeles, lined with boutiques, cafes, galleries and restaurants. The surrounding blocks hold small houses, bungalows and apartment buildings, and Venice has long had a visible population of people living in vehicles and on the streets. On a spring weekend the area draws large crowds of residents and visitors, many of whom may have walked past the spot where Jose Gonzalez was hurt.
By the mid-2010s Los Angeles was recording roughly 250 to 300 homicides a year, among the lowest totals in decades, yet many of those killings still went unsolved.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Jose Gonzalez could be found in news archives or public records. More than ten years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who was near the 1400 block of Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice in mid-April 2015, or who knew a 51-year-old man named Jose Gonzalez who spent time in Venice, 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 call the Los Angeles Police Department at 877-527-3247 or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
