Francisco Aviles was 42 years old when he died on Friday, Oct. 28, 2011, in Watts, in South Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at 9528 S. Beach St. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles Police Department Criminal Gang Homicide case.
The coroner's office listed him as a white man, but the Los Angeles Times noted that LAPD officials said he was Latino. According to the Times, officials responded to a radio call about 10:15 p.m. in the 9500 block of South Beach Street. Aviles was taken to St. Francis Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 10:49 p.m. Coroner's records said that he was stabbed multiple times, with wounds to his head, hip and torso.
Detectives moved quickly to identify a suspect. Investigators told the Times that they were looking for a 28-year-old man, whom they named, in connection with the homicide. Det. N.
Kouri said the killing did not appear to be gang-related. The Times did not report how detectives had identified the man, what connection, if any, he had to Aviles, or what may have led to the attack. No later report of an arrest, a criminal charge or a trial could be found, which suggests that the man police were seeking may never have been caught, although that cannot be confirmed from the public record.
Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Francisco Aviles 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 his death. His name is shared by many men, and searches turned up only others, among them a Los Angeles writer and men named in court cases in other parts of California and other states, none of whom is the man who died on Beach Street. The record does not say whether he lived in Watts, whether he had family nearby, or what work he did.
Watts is one of the best known neighborhoods in Los Angeles. It is home to the Watts Towers, the soaring mosaic sculptures built by Simon Rodia over more than three decades, and it is remembered nationally for the 1965 uprising that began there. Today it is a community of small single-family homes, apartment buildings and large public housing developments, home to many Black and Latino families, many of whom have known one another for generations.
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 Francisco Aviles could be found in news archives or public records. More than 14 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who lived on or near South Beach Street in October 2011, who knew Francisco or the people around him, or who knows where the man detectives were seeking went after that night, 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. The Times asked anyone with information to contact LAPD Criminal Gang Homicide Det. N. Kouri at 485-4341. 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.
