Stanislaus Gregory Martinez Jr. was 25 years old when he died on Monday, May 8, 2000. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after sustaining blunt force trauma, and his death was ruled a homicide. It is listed as an Inglewood Police Department case. The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report did not give the address where he was hurt.
He was a Black man of 25 who carried his father's name. Beyond his name, his age and the date of his death, almost nothing about Stanislaus Martinez 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 unusual one, which might be expected to make him easy to find, but searches turned up only unrelated people, including a businessman and political candidate in Belize and farm listings from Stanislaus County in Northern California.
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 where in Inglewood he was hurt, what time of day it happened, whether he died at the scene or later at a hospital, whether anyone saw what happened, or whether investigators ever identified a suspect.
The fact that he was a "Jr." means there was a Stanislaus Gregory Martinez Sr., and a father who shared his son's name may well have spent years waiting for answers. A young man of 25 would likely have had friends from school, coworkers and neighbors who knew him by sight, any of whom might remember the spring of 2000.
Inglewood is a city of its own, southwest of downtown Los Angeles and just east of Los Angeles International Airport, with its own police department. For decades it was best known as the home of the Forum, where the Lakers played until 1999, and of the Hollywood Park racetrack. In 2000 it was a largely working-class and middle-class city, home to many Black and Latino families, with busy commercial streets such as Manchester Boulevard and Market Street and quiet residential blocks of houses and apartments. Many of its residents had lived there for years and knew their neighbors well.
Hundreds of people are killed in Los Angeles County every year, and a large share of those killings end without an arrest. The death of a 25-year-old man in Inglewood does not appear to have been reported by any news outlet.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Stanislaus Gregory Martinez Jr. 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. Anyone who lived in Inglewood in May 2000 and knew him, or who heard about a young man badly hurt that spring, may hold information that could help detectives. 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 Inglewood Police Department, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
