James Thomas Diaz was 46 years old when he died on Wednesday, May 5, 2004, in Covina, a city in the San Gabriel Valley east of Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after sustaining blunt force trauma at 1233 E. Cypress St. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Covina Police Department case.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report gave only the most basic facts. It described him as "a 46-year-old Latino male" who "died Wednesday, May 5, after sustaining blunt force trauma in Covina, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records." The entry named no detective, offered no account of what happened and did not ask the public for help.
Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about James Thomas Diaz 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. James Diaz is a very common name, and searches turn up obituaries for men in Nevada, Pennsylvania, Texas, New York and elsewhere, none of whom can be tied to the man who died in Covina in May 2004.
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.
Covina is a mostly residential city in the eastern San Gabriel Valley, about 20 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. It grew up in the late 1800s around citrus groves and was once known for its oranges, and after World War II it filled in with tract homes as families moved east from Los Angeles. Today it is a suburban city of single-family neighborhoods, apartment complexes and shopping centers, with a small historic downtown along Citrus Avenue. Cypress Street is one of the east-west streets that cross the city. Covina has its own police department, which is why this death is listed as a Covina case rather than a Sheriff's Department case.
The record does not say whether James Diaz lived at the Cypress Street address, was visiting someone there or was found there after being hurt somewhere else.
Hundreds of people are killed in Los Angeles County every year, and a large share of those killings end without an arrest.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of James Thomas Diaz could be found in news archives or public records. More than 21 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who knew James, who lived near the 1200 block of East Cypress Street in Covina in May 2004, or who heard about a man being badly hurt there, may hold a piece of information that matters. 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 Covina Police Department, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
