Peter Martinez was 20 years old when he died on Saturday, August 11, 2007, in the Lake Balboa area of the San Fernando Valley. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after sustaining blunt force trauma at 7304 White Oak Avenue. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles Police Department case handled by the West Valley Division.
According to the Los Angeles Times Homicide Report, Peter was walking across White Oak Avenue at about 2:50 p.m. with his 18-year-old brother, Alex, when a faded Honda Civic heading north "blew past them." The brothers yelled at the car. The driver made a U-turn and sped back, swerving toward the center divider where Peter was standing. The driver struck him "very hard," and investigators believed it was intentional. Police described it as "a brutal road-rage incident." He was taken to Northridge Medical Center, where he died at 5:19 p.m.
The Times noted that deaths caused by vehicles are usually not counted as homicides by the coroner "unless they are intentional," which is why his death was ruled a homicide rather than a traffic death. Police described the driver as Latino or Middle Eastern, "nicely groomed," and 25 to 35 years old. The car was a four-door 1995 or 1996 Honda Civic with a tinted rear window, and its front end was smashed in where it hit Peter. A $50,000 reward was offered for information leading to the driver.
About ten days later, the Daily News reported that police had released a composite sketch of the man suspected of hitting him. The paper identified Peter as a resident of Van Nuys and described the car as a black four-door Honda Civic. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser for Peter could be found for this story, and his name is a common one shared by many other men.
White Oak Avenue is a long north-south street through the west-central San Fernando Valley, passing through residential neighborhoods of single-family homes and apartment buildings. Lake Balboa takes its name from the lake in the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area, a large park with sports fields, bike paths and open space. On a Saturday afternoon the street would have had steady traffic, and a car making a U-turn and speeding back toward two young men is the kind of thing drivers and neighbors notice.
Homicides in Los Angeles fell steeply in the late 2000s and early 2010s, yet many killings from those years were never solved. Even with a detailed description of the car and a large reward, the driver was never publicly identified.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Peter Martinez 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. Anyone who was on White Oak Avenue on the afternoon of August 11, 2007, or who saw a damaged Honda Civic in the weeks that followed, may hold information that could help. The Times listed Det. Joel Price's numbers as 374-7725 and 374-7721. 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.
