Victor Antonio Aguero

Victor Antonio Aguero was 24 years old when he died on Thursday, June 9, 2011, in Pomona. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at 224 Whitney Ave. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a case of the Pomona Police Department.

The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report said that Aguero "died on the way to a hospital in an ambulance after a confrontation with his 17-year-old brother, investigators said." Officers received a report of a disturbance and a person armed with a knife in the 200 block of Whitney Avenue at 9:25 p.m., Pomona police Sgt. William Knight told the San Bernardino Sun. They found the teenager in front of the family's home and Aguero nearby, suffering from multiple stab wounds. Los Angeles County firefighters took him by ambulance toward a spot where a helicopter was waiting, but he died before reaching the landing zone.

Police said the brothers had gotten into a fight for reasons they did not know. "They chased each other with knives," Knight said. "The 17-year-old stabbed his brother multiple times." Police told reporters that Aguero was possibly drunk, and the Times reported that investigators believed alcohol was involved. The Inland Valley Daily Bulletin later reported, citing a neighbor, that the fight began while the brothers' parents were not home and that Aguero chased his younger brother out of their apartment. "Both men were armed with knives," the paper wrote, "and the 17-year-old stabbed his brother during a struggle."

The teenager was booked on suspicion of murder and held without bail at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downey. His name was never released because he was a minor. On June 14, 2011, the Daily Bulletin reported that the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office had declined to file criminal charges against him after reviewing the case. The paper did not say why, and no later account explaining that decision could be found. Because both brothers were reported to have been armed, the decision may have turned on questions of self-defense, but that has not been stated publicly.

Little else about Victor Aguero's life has entered the public record. No obituary or memorial page for him could be found. A relative who answered the door at the family home declined to speak to reporters. Neighbor Jerry Martinez told the Daily Bulletin that such violence was unusual on the street. "It's a quiet area here," he said.

Pomona is a city of about 150,000 people at the eastern edge of Los Angeles County, best known as the home of the Los Angeles County Fair and California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. Whitney Avenue is a street in the northern part of the city that the Daily Bulletin described as lined with apartment buildings.

Hundreds of people are killed in Los Angeles County every year, and a large share of those killings end without an arrest.

No criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Victor Aguero 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 was on Whitney Avenue in Pomona on the night of June 9, 2011, or who knows more about what led to the fight, may hold information that could help. At the time, police asked anyone with information to call homicide detectives at 909-620-2095 or the tip line at 909-620-2085. Anyone with information can contact the Pomona Police Department, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.