Alberto Flores was 40 years old when he died on Saturday, March 13, 2021, in Watts, a neighborhood in South Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after being stabbed near 10930 Wilmington Ave. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles Police Department South Bureau Homicide case.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report described him as "a 40-year-old Latino male" who "died Saturday, March 13, after being stabbed near 10930 Wilmington Ave. in Watts." No news report about the stabbing was found for this story.
One public notice appears to be about him. A memorial listing from Rose Hills, the large cemetery and mortuary in Whittier, says that an Alberto Flores "was born on September 15, 1980 and passed away on March 13, 2021," and that a graveside service would be held on April 15, 2021.
The date of death is the same as in the coroner's record, and the birth date fits his age, which strongly suggests the listing is for this man. If so, his family laid him to rest about a month after he died. The listing that was available does not describe his life, his work or the people he left behind.
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.
Alberto Flores is a very common name, and searches return many other people who share it, including a man convicted of a murder in Los Angeles County in 2002 and men who died in other states. None of them can be connected to this death.
Watts is a historic neighborhood in South Los Angeles, best known for the Watts Towers, the soaring folk-art sculptures built by Simon Rodia over more than three decades, and for the 1965 uprising that drew national attention to conditions in the area. Today it is a working-class community of small houses, large public housing developments, churches and corner stores, home to many Black and Latino families. Wilmington Avenue is one of the main north-south streets through the neighborhood, lined with homes and small businesses.
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 Alberto Flores 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 was on or near Wilmington Avenue in Watts in mid-March 2021, or who knew Alberto Flores and saw him in the days before his death, may hold information that could help detectives. Relatives, friends and neighbors who remember who he spent time with may know more than they realize. 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.
