Juan Pablo Dominguez was 41 years old when he died on Wednesday, October 24, 2012, in Lomita. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after sustaining blunt force trauma at Pacific Coast Highway and Walnut Street. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department case handled by the department's Homicide Bureau.
He was a Latino man in his early 40s. Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Juan Pablo Dominguez 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 common one throughout Mexico, Latin America and Southern California, and searches turned up only other men who share it or part of it, in other states and other years.
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 record places his death at an intersection on a major highway rather than at a home address, which suggests he may have been hurt outdoors, but even that is not certain.
Lomita is a small city in the South Bay, surrounded by Torrance, the Harbor City area of Los Angeles and the Palos Verdes Peninsula. It is known as a quiet, mostly residential community of single-family homes and apartments,. Like many small cities in the county, Lomita contracts with the Sheriff's Department for police services, which are provided from the Lomita Sheriff's Station.
Pacific Coast Highway is one of Lomita's main commercial streets, lined with strip malls, restaurants, auto shops, motels and other small businesses. It carries heavy traffic at all hours, connecting the South Bay beach cities with Wilmington and Long Beach. An intersection on that highway is a place where drivers, shopkeepers, customers and people waiting for buses pass by throughout the day and night, and where security cameras on nearby businesses may have recorded part of what happened.
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 Juan Pablo Dominguez 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 Pacific Coast Highway and Walnut Street in Lomita around October 24, 2012, or who knew Juan Pablo, 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.
