John Richard Contreras was 46 years old when he died on Tuesday, March 25, 2003, in Lancaster. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after sustaining blunt force trauma at 44750 60th St. West, the address of California State Prison, Los Angeles County. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a case of the California Department of Corrections.
The address and the agency make it all but certain that he was an inmate at the prison when he was hurt. The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report recorded his death in a single sentence drawn from coroner's records, describing him as "a 46-year-old Latino male" who "died Tuesday, March 25, after sustaining blunt force trauma in Lancaster." It did not say why he was in prison, how long he had been held there, whether he was attacked in a cell, a dayroom or a yard, or whether prison investigators identified anyone responsible. No news story about his death appears to have been published.
Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about John Richard Contreras 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. John Contreras is a common name, and searches for it turned up Marine veterans, a hospital foundation officer, a wine bar owner in New York and obituaries of many other men, none of whom can be tied to the man who died in Lancaster.
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. Inside a prison the possibilities are narrower, but the record does not say whether he was attacked by a cellmate or by a group.
California State Prison, Los Angeles County, opened in 1993 in the high desert on the western edge of Lancaster, in the Antelope Valley, roughly 70 miles north of downtown Los Angeles. It is the only state prison in Los Angeles County, and it holds men serving long sentences.
Hundreds of people are killed in Los Angeles County every year, and a large share of those killings end without an arrest. A man who is killed in prison is still a homicide victim, and the law treats his death the same as any other.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of John Richard Contreras 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. Former inmates or staff who were at California State Prison, Los Angeles County, in March 2003 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 California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
