Jerry Anthony Andrade was 41 years old when he died on Thursday, Sept. 4, 2003, in Palmdale, a city in the Antelope Valley of northern Los Angeles County. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after sustaining blunt force trauma in front of 409 E. Avenue P-14. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department case.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report gave only the most basic facts. It described him as "a 41-year-old Latino male" who "died Thursday, Sept. 4, after sustaining blunt force trauma in Palmdale, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records."
Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Jerry Anthony Andrade 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. Jerry Andrade is a fairly common name, and searches turn up only other men who share it, none of whom can be tied to the man who died in Palmdale.
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 record does place him outdoors. It says he was hurt in front of a house on East Avenue P-14, which suggests that whatever happened took place on a sidewalk, a front yard or the street itself, in view of nearby homes.
Palmdale sits in the high desert on the far side of the San Gabriel Mountains from the Los Angeles basin. It grew quickly in the 1980s and 1990s as families searching for more affordable homes moved north. The city is also tied to the aerospace industry, with Air Force Plant 42 and its aircraft work long one of the area's best-known employers. Palmdale's lettered avenues run east and west across a broad grid of neighborhoods, and a street like East Avenue P-14 is lined largely with homes where neighbors may have been awake, outside or looking out a window when he was hurt.
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 Jerry Anthony Andrade could be found in news archives or public records. More than 22 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who lived on or near East Avenue P-14 in Palmdale in September 2003, or who knew Jerry Andrade and saw him in the days before he died, may hold information that could help investigators. 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.
