Bryan Wilfredo Najarro was 24 years old when he was fatally stabbed early on Wednesday, December 16, 2015, in Highland Park, in Northeast Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds near Avenue 59 and North Figueroa Street. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a case of the Los Angeles Police Department's Northeast Division.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report described him as "a 24-year-old Latino" and gave a short account of the attack. "About 2:30 a.m., LAPD patrol officers responded to a call of a stabbing and found Najarro suffering from multiple stab wounds, said LAPD Det. Ryan Watterson." He was pronounced dead at the scene at 2:38 a.m., according to coroner's records.
Unlike many cases from that year, this one came with a description of the people police were looking for.
According to the Times, "A preliminary description from witnesses indicated that the suspects could be two Latinas in their 30s, who were wearing dark clothing." Patch reported that he was found lying in the 5900 block of North Figueroa Street near Avenue 59 around 2:25 a.m., and that LAPD Sgt. Douglas Bowler said the motive had not been determined. "Witnesses told police the women left the scene in a black sedan and headed south on Avenue 59," Patch reported.
The fact that witnesses saw the women and a car suggests that people were on the street, or watching from nearby, even at that hour. The record does not say whether Bryan Najarro knew the women, what led to the confrontation, or whether the black sedan was ever found. No names of suspects have ever been released.
Beyond his name, his age and the account police gave, almost nothing about Bryan Wilfredo Najarro has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found that clearly belongs to him, and no follow-up story appears to have been published. At 24, he surely had family and friends who remember who he was, but none of that has entered the public record.
Highland Park is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Los Angeles, set along the Arroyo Seco northeast of downtown. North Figueroa Street and York Boulevard are its main commercial streets, lined with older storefronts, restaurants and bars, and the Metro light-rail line that runs between downtown Los Angeles and Pasadena has a station in the neighborhood. In the 2010s Highland Park drew new businesses and newcomers, and its nightlife along Figueroa grew busier.
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 Bryan Wilfredo Najarro 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 Avenue 59 and North Figueroa Street in the early hours of December 16, 2015, or who saw two women leave in a black sedan heading south on Avenue 59, may hold information that could help. In 2015, detectives asked callers to reach Det. Ryan Watterson at 344-5744. 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.
