John Jose Enriquez was 46 years old when he died on Saturday, December 26, 2015, in Lynwood, the day after Christmas. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds in the 11100 block of Long Beach Boulevard. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a case of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, whose Century Station patrols Lynwood.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report gave an unusually detailed account of how he was found. "A passerby called the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department at 3:42 p.m. and reported that a man was unresponsive on a bus bench, said Lt. Joe Mendoza." When deputies arrived, Mendoza said, the man "looked like he was just sitting on a bench and resting." He added: "There was nothing out of the ordinary until you looked really carefully."
Investigators then found that he had been stabbed in the chest.
He was pronounced dead at the scene at 3:58 p.m., according to coroner's records.
The Times reported that Enriquez "was a homeless man who had been living in a cardboard shelter on a vacant lot near the bus bench," and that deputies found his belongings there that afternoon. The bench was at the northwest corner of a busy intersection, next to a gas station and across from a McDonald's, Mendoza said.
One detail in the Times account narrows the time of the attack. Early reports speculated that he may have been sitting on the bench for as long as two days, but Mendoza said surveillance camera footage from nearby businesses showed the bench empty until early that morning. That suggests he came to the bench sometime on the morning or early afternoon of December 26, on a busy street in daylight. Even so, according to the Times, "Investigators don't know the motive for the killing, nor do they have any suspect information."
Beyond his name, his age and the little the Sheriff's Department shared, almost nothing about John Jose Enriquez has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found that clearly belongs to him, and no follow-up news story appears to have been published. John Enriquez is a common name, and searches turn up many other men who share it, none of whom can be connected to this death. Someone who shared that stretch of Long Beach Boulevard with him may remember who he spent time with.
Lynwood is a small, densely populated city in southeast Los Angeles County, between South Gate, Compton and Watts. It is a largely working-class community crossed by Long Beach Boulevard and the Century Freeway. Lynwood contracts with the Sheriff's Department for police services.
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 John Jose Enriquez could be found in news archives or public records. More than ten years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who was near the 11100 block of Long Beach Boulevard in Lynwood on December 26, 2015, or who knew a 46-year-old homeless man named John Enriquez who lived on a vacant lot nearby, 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.
