Jose Cuauhtemoc Arroyo Jr.

Jose Cuauhtemoc Arroyo Jr. was 40 years old when he died on Sunday, December 27, 2020, in Lancaster. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after being stabbed near 1259 W. Avenue H 14. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a case of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau.

The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report described him only as "a 40-year-old Latino male" who "died Sunday, Dec. 27, after being stabbed near 1259 W. Avenue H 14 in Lancaster." He died two days after Christmas, in the last week of a year shaped by the coronavirus pandemic, when many families were spending the holidays at home.

Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Jose Cuauhtemoc Arroyo Jr. 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.

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.

Jose Arroyo is a very common name, and searches turn up a film scholar, a comedy writer, a man of the same name who died of cancer in 2021 and many obituaries for others, none of whom can be connected to this death. His middle name, Cuauhtemoc, honors the last Aztec emperor and is far less common, but it does not appear in any public record that could be found about him. The "Jr." in his name means he shared it with his father.

Lancaster is the largest city in the Antelope Valley, a stretch of high desert in the far north of Los Angeles County, about 70 miles from downtown Los Angeles. Its streets follow a grid of lettered avenues running east and west, with in-between streets given numbered names such as Avenue H-14. The city is made up largely of tract-home neighborhoods, apartment complexes and wide boulevards, and many residents commute long distances for work. Law enforcement in Lancaster is provided by the Sheriff's Department, and killings there are investigated by its Homicide Bureau.

Hundreds of people are killed in Los Angeles County every year, and a large share of those killings end without an arrest.

No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Jose Cuauhtemoc Arroyo Jr. could be found in news archives or public records. More than five years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who lived on or near West Avenue H-14 in Lancaster in December 2020, or who knew Jose Arroyo Jr. and spent time with him over the Christmas holiday that year, 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 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.