Asencio Cansino was 25 years old when he died on Monday, July 24, 2006, in the Mid-City area of Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after sustaining blunt force trauma at 1434 S. Orange Drive. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles Police Department Wilshire Division case.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report recorded his death in a single sentence drawn from coroner's records. It described him as a Latino man, gave his age, and placed his death in Mid-City. It did not say how he was hurt, who found him, or whether detectives had any suspect in mind.
Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Asencio Cansino 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 an unusual one, and searches found no other trace of him at all, not even namesakes His life left almost no mark in online records.
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 address offers one small clue. The coroner's listing gives a numbered address on Orange Drive, a residential street, which suggests he may have been hurt in or near a home or apartment building rather than on a commercial strip. The record does not say whether he lived there, was visiting someone, or was passing through.
Mid-City is a large, densely built district in the center of Los Angeles. It is one of the most diverse parts of the city, with Black, Latino, Asian and white residents living side by side in older single-family homes, duplexes and apartment buildings. Major corridors such as Pico Boulevard, Venice Boulevard and Washington Boulevard cross it, lined with small businesses, churches and restaurants. Orange Drive is one of the residential streets that run through the area.
Los Angeles still recorded roughly 480 to 520 homicides a year in the mid-2000s, and many of those killings were never solved.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Asencio Cansino 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 lived on or near the 1400 block of South Orange Drive in July 2006, or who knew a 25-year-old man named Asencio Cansino, may hold information that could help detectives. Even knowing who he was, where he worked or who his family were could give investigators a place to start. 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.
