Gerardo Santos was 51 years old when he died on Monday, December 3, 2012, in Downtown Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after sustaining blunt force trauma near the corner of San Julian Street and East 6th Street. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles Police Department case handled by the department's Central Division.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report gave a short account of what happened, based on coroner's records. Santos "was pushed, fell backwards and struck his head about 10:40 p.m.," said Ed Winter, a spokesman for the coroner's office. Authorities were called, and Santos was pronounced dead at the scene at 10:48 p.m. Winter had no other information about the case. The account does not say who pushed him, whether the two men knew each other, or whether there had been an argument beforehand.
He was a Latino man in his early 50s. Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Gerardo Santos has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for this story, and no news outlet beyond the Times appears to have reported on the death. His name is a common one, and searches turned up only other men who share it, among them a Texas man arrested in an unrelated shooting years later, a researcher in Mexico and an author.
The circumstances matter. A single push that ends in a fatal fall is the kind of incident that can happen in seconds, sometimes in the middle of a quarrel, and the person responsible may not have meant to kill anyone. Under California law, however, a death caused that way can still lead to a charge of manslaughter or murder. The person who pushed him may have walked away without ever learning that he died.
San Julian Street and 6th Street lie in the heart of Skid Row, the part of Downtown Los Angeles east of the Historic Core and the Financial District that is known for the largest concentration of homeless people in the country. For decades the area has been home to missions, shelters, single-room-occupancy hotels and social service agencies, and its sidewalks are often lined with tents and makeshift shelters. Many people who live there know one another by sight or by nickname, even when they do not know one another's full names.
That closeness can cut both ways. A crowded block at night means that people were almost certainly nearby when Santos fell, but it also means that witnesses may have moved on, may distrust police, or may never have known his name.
Homicides in Los Angeles fell steeply in the late 2000s and early 2010s, yet many killings from those years were never solved.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Gerardo Santos could be found in news archives or public records. More than 13 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who was near San Julian and 6th streets on the night of December 3, 2012, or who knew Gerardo, 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.
