Ruben Elizondo Mejia was 41 years old when he died on Saturday, July 29, 2000, in Sun Valley, in the northeast San Fernando Valley. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after sustaining blunt force trauma at 8450 San Fernando Road. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles Police Department North Hollywood Division case.
Mejia was homeless. The Los Angeles Times reported that his body was found July 29 in the 8400 block of San Fernando Road, and that he "had been left mentally incapacitated by an earlier auto accident." According to Det. Mike Coffey of the LAPD's North Hollywood Division, Mejia "was known to live in the industrial area where his body was found."
Three months later, investigators still had almost nothing to go on. "We have absolutely no idea what happened," Coffey told The Times. "No clues, no witnesses, nothing."
On Oct. 31, 2000, the Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously to offer a $25,000 reward for information in the beating death. The reward was offered for information "leading to the conviction of those responsible for the man's death." The newspaper's wording, "those responsible," left open whether one person or more had been involved, and police did not say publicly whether they had any theory of the attack.
His death was also listed in a national report on violence against homeless people for the year 2000, published by the National Coalition for the Homeless, under the heading "Homeless Man Beaten to Death." Its inclusion there reflects how advocates viewed the case, though the report did not add any detail about who might have killed him.
No obituary or memorial page for Mejia could be found, and the public record does not name any relatives. The few details that were released describe a man who had already lost much before the night he died: his health after a car crash, and a home of his own.
Sun Valley is a working-class community in the northeast San Fernando Valley, within the city of Los Angeles. San Fernando Road runs through it beside the railroad corridor, and much of the land along the road is industrial, with yards, warehouses, recycling businesses and auto shops. Areas like this are often quiet at night, with few residents and little foot traffic, which can leave a person sleeping outdoors with no one nearby to see or help.
Homicides in Los Angeles rose sharply in the early 2000s, climbing past 600 in 2002, and detectives carried heavy caseloads. Many killings from those years were never solved.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Ruben Elizondo Mejia could be found in news archives or public records. More than 25 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. The City Council reward drew no publicly reported breakthrough.
Someone who spent time along San Fernando Road in Sun Valley in July 2000, who knew the homeless men and women living in that industrial stretch, or who heard talk about a beating there, may know what happened to him. In 2000 the LAPD asked people with information to call the North Hollywood Division at 623-4016. 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 call the Los Angeles Police Department at 877-527-3247 or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
