Angel Martin Contreras was 18 years old when he was fatally stabbed on Wednesday, October 22, 2014, in Carson, in the South Bay area of Los Angeles County. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds in the 1600 block of East 218th Street. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a case of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report described an attack that left three young people hurt. "Shortly before 3 p.m., deputies responded to a call of an assault with a deadly weapon, according to a news release from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Deputies found three people who were injured: an 18-year-old man, a 15-year-old male teenager and Contreras." The Times reported that he "was pronounced dead at the scene at 3:05 p.m.," according to the coroner's office.
The Times added that "Deputies detained, questioned and released two people. The investigation is ongoing."
No one was publicly identified as a suspect.
The Daily Breeze reported the next day that "A young man fatally stabbed in Carson in an attack that wounded two others was identified Thursday as 18-year-old Angel Contreras." The paper described him as a Carson man and said deputies found him bleeding when they arrived. It reported that "Another 18-year-old man and a 15-year-old boy whose names were not released were taken to hospitals," and that their conditions were not available.
The accounts raise more questions than they answer. They do not say whether the three who were hurt knew one another, whether they were attacked by one person or several, or what led to the violence. An attack in the middle of a weekday afternoon that wounded three people suggests there may have been others nearby who saw or heard something, though no witnesses have been described publicly. The two survivors may also know more than has been released.
Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Angel Contreras has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for this story. Angel Contreras is a common name, and searches turn up many other men who share it, including a physicist and men in Texas, New Mexico and Massachusetts, none of whom can be tied to this death.
Carson is an incorporated city in the South Bay, south of Compton and north of Long Beach and the Port of Los Angeles. It is home to California State University, Dominguez Hills, and to the stadium complex once known as the StubHub Center, and it mixes residential neighborhoods with refineries, warehouses and other industry. Carson contracts with the Sheriff's Department for police services, so homicides in the city are investigated by the department's Homicide Bureau.
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 Angel Martin Contreras could be found in news archives or public records. More than 11 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who was on or near East 218th Street in Carson on the afternoon of October 22, 2014, or who knew Angel Contreras and the friends 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. 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.
