Emanuel Gutierrez was 21 years old when he died on Saturday, June 2, 2012, in Lennox. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at 4208 W. 111th St. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau case.
The coroner's records describe him as a Latino man. The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report gave an account of his last minutes, based on information from Ed Winter, a spokesman for the coroner's office. Emanuel "was involved in an altercation prior to being killed," Winter said. "The unknown assailant chased down Gutierrez and stabbed him several times." After the stabbing, the Times wrote, "the victim took refuge in a frontyard and called paramedics for help." Authorities arrived and pronounced him dead at the scene at 8:17 p.m. that Saturday evening.
The account shows that he tried to save himself.
Badly hurt, he found a front yard on 111th Street and made the call for help himself. It also shows that whoever stabbed him did not stop when the argument ended but chased him before attacking. The record does not say what the altercation was about, how many people were involved, whether the assailant was a stranger or someone he knew, or whether anyone in the nearby homes saw the chase. The word "unknown" suggests that, at least at first, investigators did not know who the attacker was.
Beyond these details, almost nothing about Emanuel's life has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for this story, and no later news report about his death turned up. Emanuel Gutierrez is a common name in Southern California and across Latin America, and searches turned up many other men who share it, none of whom can be clearly tied to this death. He surely had family and friends who remember who he was, but none of that has entered the public record.
Lennox is a small unincorporated community in southwest Los Angeles County, near Los Angeles International Airport and between the cities of Inglewood and Hawthorne. Because it is not part of any city, it is policed by the Sheriff's Department. It is a dense, largely Latino, working-class neighborhood of small houses and apartment buildings, and the sound of jets landing at the nearby airport is part of daily life there.
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 Emanuel Gutierrez 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. The people who lived on West 111th Street, anyone who saw the argument or the chase, and the people who knew who Emanuel had been with on the evening of June 2, 2012, may hold information that could help investigators. 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.
