Pedro Lyis Garcia was 27 years old when he died on Monday, October 15, 2012, three days after he was stabbed in Norwalk, in southeast Los Angeles County. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds suffered in the 12000 block of Benfield Avenue. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a case of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report, which listed him as Pedro Garcia, gave a brief account. "Authorities say Garcia was stabbed Oct. 12 about 8:30 a.m. by an unknown assailant," the Times reported. He was taken to a hospital, where he later died. "No other information was available about the incident," the report said, and it asked anyone with details to contact Det. Cooper at the sheriff's homicide bureau.
The phrase "unknown assailant" is nearly all the public has ever been told about who attacked him.
The record does not say whether Garcia knew the person who stabbed him, whether there was an argument or a robbery, or whether anyone else was on the street that Friday morning. The time of day is unusual for a fatal stabbing. At 8:30 on a weekday morning, people in a residential neighborhood are often leaving for work or taking children to school, which suggests that someone may have seen or heard something, even if they did not realize its importance at the time.
Beyond his name, his age and the place where he was hurt, almost nothing about Pedro Garcia has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for this story, and no other news outlet appears to have reported on the stabbing. Pedro Garcia is an extremely common name, and searches for it are filled with obituaries and news stories about other men, including a man killed in a Riverside County vineyard in 2015, none of whom can be tied to this death. He surely had family and friends who remember him, but none of that has entered the public record.
Norwalk is a city in southeast Los Angeles County. It is largely a community of postwar single-family homes, apartment complexes and shopping centers, and it is home to the headquarters of the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk. Norwalk contracts with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department for police services, which is why sheriff's homicide detectives handled the case.
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 Pedro Lyis Garcia could be found in news archives or public records. More than 13 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who was on or near Benfield Avenue in Norwalk on the morning of Friday, October 12, 2012, or who knew a 27-year-old man named Pedro Garcia who was hurt there, 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.
