Sergio Diaz Acosta was 25 years old when he died on Monday, October 3, 2016, in Long Beach. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds near the intersection of Pacific Coast Highway and Pacific Avenue. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Long Beach Police Department case.
According to a Long Beach police news release, officers were sent to the intersection at about 2:40 a.m. "to assist Long Beach Fire Department with an individual lying in the street." Arriving officers "located a male adult who sustained multiple stab wounds to the upper torso." Firefighters took him to a hospital, where he died at 3:05 a.m., according to coroner's records.
Police said from the start that "the incident is being investigated as gang related," but that "a motive for the stabbing is unknown and the investigation remains ongoing."
The Long Beach Press-Telegram reported that Acosta "may have been involved in a dispute at a nearby gas station that resulted in the stabbing," according to Lt. Erik Herzog. There were no arrests, and "no description was immediately available of the suspect or suspects."
A little more is known about his life. A Forest Lawn obituary said he was born on June 16, 1991, in San Jose, and that he lived in Long Beach at the time of his death. Arrangements were handled by Forest Lawn in Cypress. The day after he died, a GoFundMe page bearing his name was created, and it raised $2,790 toward a $6,000 goal from 33 donations. The part of its text that survives begins with the words "Our family," which suggests it was organized by relatives. No public account describes his work, his interests or the people closest to him. His name is shared by other men, including people in Texas and Kern County, none of whom can be tied to this death.
Several questions remain. Police have never said who was involved in the dispute at the gas station, whether Acosta knew the people he argued with, or why detectives suspected a gang connection. The fact that he was found lying in the street suggests he may have walked or stumbled some distance after he was hurt, but that is only an inference.
Pacific Coast Highway runs east and west across Long Beach, and its crossing with Pacific Avenue lies a short distance north of downtown. The area is a mix of older apartment buildings, small businesses, motels and gas stations, and at 2:40 in the morning traffic on the highway is light.
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 Sergio Diaz Acosta could be found in news archives or public records. More than nine years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who was at or near a gas station by Pacific Coast Highway and Pacific Avenue in the early morning hours of October 3, 2016, or who heard talk afterward about a fight there, 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. Police asked tipsters to contact homicide detectives Todd Johnson and Shea Robertson at 570-7244. Anyone with information can contact the Long Beach Police Department's Homicide Detail at 562-570-7244, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
