Seberiano Romero was 60 years old when he died on Wednesday, April 23, 2003, in Compton. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after sustaining blunt force trauma at 1532 W. Compton Blvd. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a case of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report recorded his death in a single sentence drawn from coroner's records. It gave his age, listed him as a Latino man, named the address on Compton Boulevard and noted the cause of death. It did not say how he was hurt, whether the address was a home, a shop or a sidewalk, or whether investigators had any idea who was responsible. No follow-up story appears to have been published.
Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Seberiano Romero 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 first name is an uncommon one, yet searches for it returned only scattered listings that could not be tied to him.
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.
At 60, he was older than most victims of violence in the county. Nothing in the record says what kind of life he led, how long he had lived in the area or whether he had family nearby.
Compton sits in the southern part of Los Angeles County, between South Los Angeles and Long Beach. It is often called the Hub City because of its central location in the region. It is known around the world for its place in the history of West Coast hip-hop. Much of the city is made up of neighborhoods of small single-family homes with yards, and over the late 20th century its population shifted from mostly Black to mostly Latino. Compton Boulevard is one of its main east-west streets. In 2000 the city disbanded its own police department and began contracting with the Sheriff's Department, so the Sheriff's Homicide Bureau was investigating killings there by 2003.
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 Seberiano Romero 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 or worked on or near West Compton Boulevard in April 2003, or who knew a 60-year-old man named Seberiano Romero, may hold information that could help. 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.
