Andres Hernandez was 34 years old when he died on Sunday, July 6, 2014, in Historic South-Central Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at 3815 Wall Street. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles Police Department Newton Division case.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report recorded his death in a single sentence. It described him as "a 34-year-old Latino male" who "died Sunday, July 6, after being stabbed in Historic South-Central, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records." No detective was quoted, no account of the attack was given, and nothing further was added to the entry in the years that followed.
Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Andres Hernandez 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.
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 record also does not say whether the Wall Street address was his home or only the place where he was found.
Andres Hernandez is one of the most common name combinations in Southern California. A search for it turns up students, athletes, a photographer and many men in court records and news stories in Texas, Washington and other states, none of whom can be connected to this death. Without more detail from investigators or family, it has not been possible to learn more about the man who died on Wall Street.
Historic South-Central is a neighborhood just south of downtown Los Angeles, among the oldest parts of the city's south side. It is a mix of older houses, apartment buildings, small businesses and industrial blocks, and it lies within the LAPD's Newton Division, which covers much of the area south and southeast of downtown.
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 Andres Hernandez 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 lived on or near Wall Street in Historic South-Central in early July 2014, or who knew a 34-year-old man named Andres Hernandez who lived or spent time in that area, 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.
