Johnathan Hernandez was 24 years old when he died on Sunday, Oct. 4, 2009, in Lake Balboa. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after sustaining blunt force trauma at 6767 Hayvenhurst Ave. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles Police Department West Valley Division case.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report, which spelled his first name Jonathan, said he died "a week after he was assaulted in the 6700 block of Hayvenhurst Avenue in Lake Balboa." Hernandez, who lived in Panorama City, "sustained head trauma in the Sept. 27 incident," said Ed Winter, a spokesman for the coroner's office. He was taken to Northridge Hospital, where he stayed until he died at 1:10 p.m. on Oct. 4, Winter said.
That account establishes a timeline but little else. It does not say how the assault began, whether Hernandez was attacked by one person or several, whether he knew the people involved, or whether a weapon was used. It does not say whether he was able to speak to anyone during the week he spent in the hospital. Because he lived in Panorama City, a few miles away, the location of the assault suggests he may have been visiting someone, working or passing through the area that night, but the record does not say why he was on Hayvenhurst Avenue.
Beyond those details, almost nothing about Johnathan Hernandez has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for this story, and no other news outlet appears to have reported on the death. Johnathan Hernandez is a common name, and searches return many other men who share it, in Texas, Modesto, Santa Ana and elsewhere, none of whom can be tied to this young man from Panorama City. He surely had family and friends who remember who he was, but none of that has entered the public record.
Lake Balboa is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley that for many years was considered part of Van Nuys. It takes its name from the lake in the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area, a large expanse of parkland, sports fields and trails along the Los Angeles River. Hayvenhurst Avenue runs north and south through the area, lined with apartment buildings and single-family homes. Panorama City, where Hernandez lived, was developed after World War II as one of the Valley's first planned communities and today is one of its most densely populated neighborhoods.
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 Johnathan Hernandez could be found in news archives or public records. More than 16 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. People who lived on or near the 6700 block of Hayvenhurst Avenue in September 2009, and friends who knew where Hernandez was going on Sept. 27, may remember a fight, a group of people or a name mentioned afterward. 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.
