Kristian Fernando Ramos was 22 years old when he died on Sunday, August 23, 2020, in Venice, on the west side of Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after being stabbed near Mildred Avenue south of Venice Boulevard. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles Police Department case, assigned to the department's West Bureau Homicide detectives.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report described him as "a 22-year-old Latino male" who "died Sunday, Aug. 23, after being stabbed near Mildred Avenue S/O Venice Boulevard in Venice." Two days later, a City News Service report published by the Daily News, Patch and MyNewsLA added more detail. It said the crime "occurred about 9:30 p.m. Sunday on the 500 block of North Venice Boulevard, according to the Los Angeles Police Department," and that he "died at the scene."
The report described what police believed had happened.
"Investigators believe Ramos and another man were walking together when the other man stabbed him and fled, police said." It added that "No description of the suspect was available," and that authorities "continued their efforts to find his killer." His city of residence, the report said, "was not known."
That account suggests that the person who stabbed him may have been someone he knew, or at least someone he was willing to walk beside on a summer night. It does not say what the two men may have been doing, whether they had argued, or which way the attacker ran.
His family remembered him in a fundraiser created on GoFundMe by one of his sisters to pay for his funeral. "Kristian Ramos's life was taken away the night of August 23rd 2020," it said. It noted that he left behind three sisters and a young daughter. The page offered a rare glimpse of the family he left behind, a reminder that the young man in the coroner's record was a brother and a father.
Venice is a beach community on the west side of Los Angeles, known around the world for its canals, its boardwalk along Ocean Front Walk and its long mix of artists, surfers, longtime residents and visitors. Venice Boulevard runs inland from the beach and carries steady traffic. In 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic, homelessness in Venice was a constant subject of public debate, and the neighborhood saw a number of violent deaths that year.
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 Kristian Fernando Ramos 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. Police said he was walking with another man shortly before he was stabbed. Anyone who saw two men walking together near Venice Boulevard and Mildred Avenue on the evening of Sunday, August 23, 2020, or who knew who Kristian Ramos was with that night, 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.
