Gabino Perez Perez was 48 years old when he died on Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2002, in Cudahy, a small city in southeast Los Angeles County. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after sustaining blunt force trauma at 4748 Live Oak St. 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 recorded only the barest facts. It described him as "a 48-year-old Latino male" who "died Tuesday, Aug. 27, after sustaining blunt force trauma in Cudahy, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records." The entry named no detective, gave 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 Gabino Perez Perez 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, which carries the same surname twice, follows a naming custom common in Spanish-speaking families, and searches for it turn up many other men named Gabino Perez, in California and in other states, none of whom can be tied to the man who died on Live Oak Street.
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.
Cudahy is one of the smallest cities in Los Angeles County by land area, covering only about a square mile, and it is also one of the most densely populated. It sits in the southeast part of the county along the Los Angeles River, surrounded by cities such as Bell, Huntington Park and South Gate. Like several neighboring cities, Cudahy contracts with the Sheriff's Department for its police services, which is why deputies rather than a city police force were responsible for this investigation.
Hundreds of people are killed in Los Angeles County every year, and a large share of those killings end without an arrest. A death recorded only in coroner's files, without a news story or a public appeal, is easily forgotten outside the circle of people who knew the victim, and that appears to be what happened here.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Gabino Perez Perez could be found in news archives or public records. More than 23 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who knew Gabino, who lived or worked near the 4700 block of Live Oak Street in Cudahy in August 2002, or who heard talk afterward about how he was hurt, may hold information that matters to his family and to 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.
