Edward Melgar was 28 years old when he was stabbed to death on Tuesday, March 20, 2012, in Montecito Heights, in Northeast Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at 4509 Griffin Ave. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles Police Department Hollenbeck Division case.
The coroner's records describe him as a Latino man. According to a motion filed with the Los Angeles City Clerk later that year, Edward was walking home from a neighborhood market at Avenue 43 and Griffin Avenue at about 9 p.m. that night. Somewhere on that short walk along Griffin Avenue, he was attacked. Coroner's records show that he was stabbed in the chest.
It was his father who called for help. LAPD Hollenbeck homicide Det. S. Carrillo told the Los Angeles Times Homicide Report that "Melgar's father summoned police about the stabbing." Officers arrived, and Edward was taken to L.A. County/USC Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. The report does not say whether his father saw the attack or found his son afterward, or how far from home Edward was when he was hurt.
Detectives released very little else. According to the Times, investigators did "not have a description of the assailant," and "the motive for the killing remains unclear." No arrests were made. The account does not say whether anything was taken from him, whether there was an argument first, or whether anyone else was on the street at the time. The fact that he was walking home from a neighborhood store on an ordinary weeknight suggests that people at the market or along the street may have seen him in the minutes before he was attacked.
Beyond these details, almost nothing about Edward's life has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for this story. Searches for his name turn up other men named Edward Melgar in other places, none of them connected to this case. He surely had family, friends and neighbors who remember who he was, but none of that has entered the public record.
Montecito Heights is a hillside residential neighborhood in Northeast Los Angeles, a few miles from downtown, next to Lincoln Heights and near Ernest E. Debs Regional Park. Griffin Avenue is a neighborhood street that runs through the area, lined mostly with houses and small apartment buildings, with corner markets at some intersections.
Homicides in Los Angeles fell steeply in the late 2000s and early 2010s, yet many killings from those years were never solved.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Edward Melgar 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 near Avenue 43 and Griffin Avenue on the evening of March 20, 2012, or who saw Edward at or after his visit to the market, may hold information that could help detectives. The Times listed Det. Carrillo's number as 342-8959. 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.
