Marina G. Nerio Hernandez was 39 years old when she died on Sunday, December 7, 2014, in East Hollywood. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, she died after sustaining blunt force trauma at 4061 1/2 Oakwood Ave. Her death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles Police Department case handled by the Rampart Division.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report listed her as a white woman. Beyond her name, her age and the place where she died, almost nothing about Marina G. Nerio Hernandez 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. She surely had family, friends or neighbors who remember who she was, but none of that has entered the public record. Hernandez is among the most common surnames in Southern California, and searches for Marina Hernandez turn up many other women, among them a pastor in Texas, a woman in Wisconsin and others in Whittier and elsewhere, none of whom can be tied to the woman who died in East Hollywood.
Because so little has been released, even the basic circumstances remain unknown to the public. The record does not say whether she 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 she was hurt, whether she 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 her death carries a "1/2" designation, which in Los Angeles usually marks a rear house, a back unit or a second dwelling on the same lot. That suggests she may have been hurt in or near a home, possibly her own, though the record does not say whether she lived there.
East Hollywood is a densely populated neighborhood just east of Hollywood, made up largely of apartment buildings and older bungalows on narrow residential streets. It includes Thai Town and Little Armenia, Los Angeles City College and Barnsdall Art Park, home of Frank Lloyd Wright's Hollyhock House, and a cluster of major hospitals along Sunset Boulevard. Many of its residents are renters, and many households include families who arrived in Los Angeles from other countries. The neighborhood falls within the LAPD's Rampart Division, one of the busiest in the city.
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 Marina G. Nerio Hernandez could be found in news archives or public records. More than 11 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who lived on or near Oakwood Avenue in East Hollywood in early December 2014, or who knew Marina G. Nerio Hernandez, her household or the people around her, 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 call the Los Angeles Police Department at 877-527-3247 or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
