Eleazar H Torresrico was 45 years old when he died on Tuesday, December 7, 2021, in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at 2124 Bellevue Ave. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a case of the Los Angeles Police Department's Central Bureau Homicide unit.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report recorded his death in a single sentence drawn from coroner's records. It described him as "a 45-year-old Latino male" who "died Tuesday, Dec. 7, after being stabbed near 2124 Bellevue Ave. in Echo Park." The entry gave a street address, but it did not say whether that was his home, the home of someone he knew or simply the place where he was found. No follow-up story appears to have been written.
Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Eleazar H Torresrico 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 surname as recorded is unusual. It may be a double family name, Torres Rico, written as a single word, a common practice in official records when two surnames are joined. No record under any of those spellings could be tied to this death.
Because so little has been released, even the basic circumstances remain unknown to the public. The record does not say whether he was stabbed during a fight or a robbery, attacked by a stranger or by someone he knew, or hurt indoors or on the street. 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.
Echo Park is one of the older neighborhoods of Los Angeles, set on hills just northwest of downtown. It takes its name from Echo Park Lake, a city park known for its lotus beds, paddle boats and views of the downtown skyline, and it lies close to Dodger Stadium. Its streets hold a mix of early twentieth century bungalows, hillside houses and apartment buildings. For decades it was home to many working-class Latino families, and in more recent years it has drawn young professionals, artists and new businesses, bringing rising rents and changes to the neighborhood. Bellevue Avenue is one of the residential streets that cross the area.
Los Angeles recorded about 260 homicides a year in 2018 and 2019, among the lowest yearly totals in more than half a century, yet many of those killings still went unsolved.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Eleazar H Torresrico could be found in news archives or public records. More than four years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who lived on or near the 2100 block of Bellevue Avenue in Echo Park in December 2021, or who knew a 45-year-old man named Eleazar who may have used the surname Torres or Rico, 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 call the Los Angeles Police Department at 877-527-3247 or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
