Ricardo Medina was 41 years old when he died on Friday, Oct. 11, 2019, in South El Monte. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds after he was attacked in the 2500 block of Santa Anita Avenue. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department case.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report gave an account from Los Angeles County Sheriff's Lt. Brandon Dean. Medina "was riding his bicycle north on Santa Anita Avenue around 5:30 p.m., just a few blocks from his home, when a white four-door SUV pulled up beside him and two adult Latinos got out," the report said. The men "stabbed Medina multiple times and then got back in the car and drove away." Medina "was able to keep riding his bike for a short distance before he collapsed about a half block from his home." He was taken to a nearby hospital and was pronounced dead at 6:15 p.m.
"Investigators believe the stabbing may be gang-related," Dean said.
When the coroner's office released his name, the San Gabriel Valley Tribune reported that he lived in El Monte and that "three assailants jumped and stabbed Ricardo Medina of El Monte multiple times as he rode his bike along Santa Anita Avenue." That account said the suspects "hopped into a white BMW sedan and drove north," and that deputies found him after he collapsed a block away. The paper added that "a detailed description of the suspect or suspects was not released and no arrests have been reported." The Spanish-language Excelsior carried the same report. The two accounts differ on the number of attackers and the type of car, which suggests that early descriptions were still being sorted out.
A funeral listing from Rose Hills records a Ricardo Medina who was born on Aug. 29, 1978, in Garden Grove and died on Oct. 11, 2019, which fits his age and date of death, though the listing gives no further details. His name is shared by many people, including a former television actor whose own unrelated criminal case dominates search results.
South El Monte is a small city in the San Gabriel Valley, east of Los Angeles, that contracts with the Sheriff's Department for police services. It mixes industrial businesses and warehouses with neighborhoods of modest houses, and it borders El Monte to the north. Santa Anita Avenue is one of its main north-south streets, and at 5:30 on a Friday evening it would have carried commuters, shoppers and people heading home.
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 Ricardo Medina could be found in news archives or public records. More than six years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who was on Santa Anita Avenue in South El Monte on the evening of Oct. 11, 2019, who saw a white car stop beside a man on a bicycle, or who heard later talk about the attack, 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 Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
