Delmiro Lopez was 46 years old when he died on Sunday, March 18, 2012, at St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood, in southeast Los Angeles County. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died at the hospital in the 3600 block of East Imperial Highway. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau case. The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report lists the cause of death as a stabbing.
The coroner's records describe him as a Latino man. The only account of what happened comes from Ed Winter, then a spokesman for the coroner's office, who spoke to the Times shortly after the death. That account does not describe a stabbing. According to Winter, Delmiro and his wife had been drinking at an unknown location and "got drunk." At some point, Delmiro fell backwards and hit his head. "It was unclear if he fell back on his own or was pushed by his wife," the Times reported.
After he struck his head, he was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 5:29 a.m.
Winter said an autopsy was still pending at the time and that he had no other details. The difference between that early description and the cause listed in the Homicide Report has never been explained in public. It may mean that the autopsy found injuries that were not known when Winter spoke, but no later report has said so. It is also not known where the couple had been, who else was there, or how long passed between his fall and his arrival at the hospital.
Beyond these details, almost nothing about Delmiro's life has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for this story, and no news outlet appears to have followed up on the case. Searches for his name turn up other men named Delmiro Lopez in other places, none of them connected to this death. He surely had family, friends and 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 unclear. The record does not say whether anyone saw him fall, whether there had been an argument, or what led investigators to rule the death a homicide.
Lynwood is a small city in southeast Los Angeles County, between South Gate and Compton. It contracts with the Sheriff's Department for police services, which is why sheriff's homicide investigators handle killings there. St. Francis Medical Center on Imperial Highway is one of the main hospitals serving the surrounding communities, and patients from nearby cities are often brought 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 Delmiro Lopez 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 with Delmiro or his wife on the night of March 17 or early on March 18, 2012, or who knows where they had been, 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.
