Luciano Juarez was 49 years old when he died on Saturday, September 28, 2013, in Lancaster. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after sustaining blunt force trauma at 44275 Division St. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department case.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report described him as a Latino man and gave no further details. Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Luciano Juarez 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. His name is a fairly common one, and searches turned up only people-search listings that cannot be tied to him with confidence and other men named Luciano Juarez in Alabama, Georgia, Texas and elsewhere.
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 is the most specific detail in the record. It gives a street number rather than a block or an intersection, which suggests the death was tied to a particular property on Division Street, perhaps a home, a business or a lot. The record does not say what stood at that address, whether he lived there, or whether he was found there after being hurt somewhere else.
The case was assigned to the Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau, which investigates killings in unincorporated areas of the county and in the many cities, including Lancaster, that contract with the department for police services.
Lancaster is the largest city in the Antelope Valley, a high desert region in the northern part of Los Angeles County, about 70 miles north of downtown Los Angeles. It grew rapidly in the 1980s and 1990s as families looking for more affordable housing moved north, and many residents make long commutes into the San Fernando Valley and beyond. The city is a mix of newer subdivisions, older neighborhoods near its downtown, open desert land and commercial strips. Division Street is one of the long north-south streets that run through the city.
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 Luciano Juarez could be found in news archives or public records. More than 12 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who was near Division Street in Lancaster in late September 2013, or who knew Luciano Juarez and saw him in the days before he died, 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 Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
