Jared Salazar Jr. was only five months old when he died on Sunday, October 8, 2006. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after sustaining blunt force trauma. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau case. The coroner's entry in the Los Angeles Times Homicide Report gave no address, but later news reports said the baby lived in Bellflower.
His family called him J.J. According to the Los Angeles Daily News, the boy was rushed to a hospital from his home in the 10200 block of Flora Vista Drive in Bellflower, and he died after being airlifted to a different hospital. Detective Michael Rodriguez of the Sheriff's Department told the paper that the baby "had multiple fractures and other injuries." The Los Angeles Times reported that he was pronounced dead "of severe head trauma."
Investigators quickly focused on the boy's father, Jared Joseph Salazar. In March 2007 the Times Homicide Report wrote that sheriff's homicide detectives were "seeking the public's help in finding 22-year-old Jared Salazar, a Bellflower man wanted for the murder of his 5-month-old son." Detectives said that Salazar beat the baby, then fled from the hospital after the child was pronounced dead. According to the Daily News, he left after child abuse detectives tried to contact him, and he "hasn't been seen since." The Times reported that he had a history of domestic violence and drug use, that he frequented Bellflower, Torrance and the South Bay, and that police believed he may have left the state. He was described as white, 5-foot-11 and 180 pounds, with blond hair and blue eyes. The suspicion of detectives is not proof, and no record could be found showing that he was ever tried in court.
The boy's godmother spoke to Channel 9 about him. "I think that J.J. suffered a lot in his little five months, and I think God took him home because he couldn't take anymore," she said. "We need to know his side, so we can get past it." Rodriguez said he wanted to give the father "at least a chance to sit down and answer some questions."
Bellflower is a mostly residential city in southeast Los Angeles County, a community of single-family homes, apartment buildings and small businesses along Bellflower Boulevard and the city's other main streets. Like many smaller cities in the county, it contracts with the Sheriff's Department for police services.
Hundreds of people are killed in Los Angeles County every year, and a large share of those killings end without an arrest. Cases in which a suspect has been named but never found are among the hardest to close, because the answer may lie with someone who has spent years living under another name or in another place.
No arrest or court case connected to the death of Jared Salazar Jr. could be found in news archives or public records. More than 19 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who knew the Salazar family in Bellflower in 2006, or who has seen or heard from Jared Joseph Salazar since then, may hold information that could help. In 2007 the Times listed Sgt. Michael Rodriguez's number as 890-5579. 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.
