Robert Sanchez was only two months old when he died on Oct. 18, 2007, in the Vermont Knolls neighborhood of South Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after sustaining blunt force trauma in the 8000 block of South Figueroa Street. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a case of the Los Angeles Police Department's Abused Child Unit.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report described his death in two sentences. Reporter Anthony Pesce wrote that the baby "was discovered unresponsive in his crib" in the 8000 block of South Figueroa Street, "according to the Los Angeles County coroner." The entry added: "Robert died of blunt force trauma to the chest and abdomen, said Craig Harvey, chief coroner's investigator."
Those few words carry a great deal of weight. A two-month-old cannot fall, fight or wander into danger, and injuries to the chest and abdomen of an infant are the kind that usually point to force applied by an adult. The assignment of the case to the LAPD's Abused Child Unit, which investigates crimes against children, suggests that detectives looked at it as a possible case of child abuse. The record does not say who was caring for the baby, who found him in his crib, or whether anyone was ever questioned.
Beyond the Times entry, almost nothing about Robert Sanchez has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for this story, and no other news report appears to have been published. Robert Sanchez is one of the most common names in Los Angeles, and searches for it return thousands of unrelated people, which makes it nearly impossible to find any trace of a baby who lived only a few weeks.
The record does not say whether he died at the scene or later at a hospital, and it does not say what, if anything, the people around him told investigators. His short life left almost no public trace beyond a few lines in a coroner's file.
Vermont Knolls is a neighborhood of South Los Angeles, and Figueroa Street is one of the long north-south streets that pass through the area. It is a working-class area of modest single-family homes, small apartment buildings, churches and corner businesses, home to Black and Latino families.
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 Robert Sanchez could be found in news archives or public records. More than 18 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Someone who lived near the 8000 block of South Figueroa Street in October 2007, or who knew a family with a two-month-old boy named Robert, may remember what happened in that home or who was caring for him. Relatives and neighbors may hold details that were never made public. 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.
