Olegario Gomez was 64 years old when he died on Tuesday, June 25, 2019, in Reseda. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds suffered near 18429 Victory Blvd. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles Police Department West Bureau Homicide case.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report described him as "a 64-year-old Latino male" who "died Tuesday, June 25, after being stabbed near 18429 Victory Blvd. in Reseda." A City News Service report, published by the Daily News and MyNewsLA.com after the coroner's office released his name, said he was "a 64-year-old homeless man who was found stabbed in a Reseda park and later died of his injuries at a hospital."
According to that report, "Police found Olegario Gomez bleeding on a picnic table in the park at 7 a.m. Thursday, June 20." What he told officers was striking.
"Gomez told Los Angeles police he was sleeping on the table and woke up with severe abdominal pain and realized he was bleeding from being stabbed." He lived for five more days before he died.
His account suggests that he may have been attacked while he slept, and that he may never have seen who hurt him. The report said, "His attacker remains at large. No suspect description was available." It asked anyone with information to call Detective Steve Castro of the Los Angeles Police Department's Valley Bureau Homicide at 818-374-1925.
No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser for Olegario Gomez could be found for this story. Searches for his name turn up a man arrested in Texas, a man charged in a shooting in Phoenix, an obituary for a much older man in Miami and a high school football player, none of whom have any connection to this death. Like many people who live without a home, he left almost no trace in the public record, though someone surely knew him, spoke with him in the park or noticed him missing.
Reseda is a neighborhood in the west-central San Fernando Valley, a mix of single-family homes, apartment buildings and busy commercial streets. Reseda Park, the community's main city park, sits along Victory Boulevard, which suggests it was the park described in the news report. Like many public parks in Los Angeles, it is a place where families gather by day and where some unhoused people rest at night.
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 Olegario Gomez 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 in or near the park on Victory Boulevard in Reseda in the early morning of June 20, 2019, or who knew Olegario Gomez and the people he spent time with, 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. Detective Steve Castro of Valley Bureau Homicide was listed as the contact at 818-374-1925. 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.
