Adrian Acero was an infant, less than a year old, when he died on Friday, March 1, 2013, in Downey. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after sustaining blunt force trauma at 13130 Deming Ave. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Downey Police Department case.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report recorded only the barest facts: his name, his age as zero, his gender, the date, the address and the cause of death. It did not publish a story about him, and no other news report about his death could be found.
Beyond his name and the place where he died, nothing about Adrian Acero has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for this story. A baby's life leaves only a small trace in public records, and his is almost invisible. Searches for the name turn up only adults who share it, including men in Oregon, Georgia and elsewhere, none of whom have anything to do with the child who died in Downey. Someone surely remembers him, held him and grieved for him, but none of that has entered the public record.
Because so little has been released, even the basic circumstances of his death remain unknown to the public. The record does not say how he was injured, who was caring for him at the time, whether he died at home or at a hospital, or whether anyone was ever questioned. When a coroner rules the death of an infant a homicide from blunt force trauma, it means that investigators concluded the injuries were caused by another person and were not the result of an accident or illness. It does not say who that person was.
Cases like this are often investigated without any public announcement, and when charges do follow, they can take months or years. No record of any such case connected to Adrian Acero could be found, but the absence of news coverage does not mean that no one was ever investigated. It means only that nothing has been made public.
Downey is a city of about 110,000 people in southeast Los Angeles County, between the San Gabriel and Rio Hondo rivers. It is a largely residential community of single-family homes and tree-lined streets, known as the home of the oldest operating McDonald's restaurant and for its long history in the aerospace industry, which is remembered today at the Columbia Memorial Space Center. Deming Avenue is a residential street in 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 Adrian Acero 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 knew the family, lived near Deming Avenue in Downey in early 2013, or knows how this child came to be hurt may hold information that could help investigators. Even the smallest piece of information about who was caring for him in the days before he died could matter. Anyone with information can contact the Downey Police Department, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
