Javier Mendoza was 33 years old, according to the coroner's entry in the Los Angeles Times Homicide Report, when he died on Sunday, June 16, 2013, in Pacoima, in the northeast San Fernando Valley. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at 9977 Haddon Ave. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles Police Department Foothill Division case.
A City News Service report published the next day gave his age as 32 and described what police said had happened. "Mendoza was in the backyard of a residence when he was stabbed by a man in his 20s who fled in a dark SUV," the report said, citing Officer Susan Torres of the Los Angeles Police Department's Media Relations office. He suffered his injuries in the 9900 block of Haddon Avenue and died at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center about 1 a.m. that Sunday, according to the coroner's office.
The report ended with a short line: "There were no arrests."
The attack therefore took place late on Saturday night or in the first minutes of Sunday. The report does not say whose backyard it was, whether Mendoza lived there or was visiting, whether he knew the man who stabbed him, or what led to the attack. It also does not say whether anyone else was in the yard, or whether the dark SUV was ever traced.
A Dignity Memorial listing records a Javier Mendoza Jr. who was born on April 21, 1981, and died on June 16, 2013, in the care of Pierce Brothers Valhalla Memorial Park in North Hollywood. The date of death and the age of 32 both match the man in the news report, which suggests it may be the same person, but the listing gives no details of his life and does not mention how he died. His name is among the most common Spanish names in Southern California, which makes other records about him hard to separate from those of many namesakes.
Pacoima is a working-class neighborhood of the city of Los Angeles, made up largely of single-family homes on flat grid streets near the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains. It is home to Whiteman Airport and is known as the hometown of the rock and roll singer Ritchie Valens. Many families there have lived in the area for generations, and backyards on its residential streets are often shared by relatives, tenants and friends.
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 Javier Mendoza could be found in news archives or public records. More than 12 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who was at or near the 9900 block of Haddon Avenue on the night of June 15 and 16, 2013, who saw a dark SUV leaving the area, or who knew Javier and the people around him, 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.
