Felipe Gutierrez Martinez was 38 years old when he died on Sunday, April 9, 2017, in the Harvard Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at 2346 W. 18th St. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a case of the Los Angeles Police Department's West Bureau Homicide unit.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report recorded his death in a single sentence drawn from coroner's records. It described him as "a 38-year-old Latino male" who "died Sunday, April 9, after being stabbed in Harvard Heights." No detective was quoted, no account of the attack was given, and no request for tips was attached to the entry.
Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Felipe Gutierrez Martinez 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.
Martinez is one of the most common surnames in Southern California, and Gutierrez is common as well, so searches for his name turn up many other men in Mexico and across the United States. None of those records could be tied to the man who died on 18th Street.
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.
The coroner's record does give a specific street address rather than a block, which may mean he was found at a home or building, but the record does not say whether he lived there, was visiting, or was simply passing by.
Harvard Heights is a small, mostly residential neighborhood west of downtown Los Angeles, in the area often called Mid-City. It is known for its blocks of early twentieth century houses, including many Craftsman homes, and part of the neighborhood is protected as a historic preservation zone. Older homes stand beside apartment buildings, and the neighborhood is close to the busy corridors of Pico Boulevard, Washington Boulevard and Western Avenue. It is a crowded, working-class area where many families have lived for decades.
By the mid-2010s Los Angeles was recording roughly 250 to 300 homicides a year, among the lowest totals in decades, yet many of those killings still went unsolved.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Felipe Gutierrez Martinez could be found in news archives or public records. More than eight years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who lived on or near West 18th Street in Harvard Heights in April 2017, or who knew a 38-year-old man named Felipe Gutierrez Martinez, 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 call the Los Angeles Police Department at 877-527-3247 or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
