Miguel Gonzalez-Cervantes was 39 years old when he died on Friday, March 12, 2010, in East Compton, an unincorporated area of South Los Angeles County. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at 15320 S. Washington Ave. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a case of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report gave an unusually detailed account of what investigators believed happened. About 5:30 a.m., the Times reported, Gonzalez-Cervantes "began fighting with Alejandro Estrella, a 21-year-old Latino, with whom he had been sharing a room with since January," according to Detective Ray Lugo of the Sheriff's Homicide Bureau. "The roommates had been arguing for several days when the disagreement escalated," Lugo said, and Estrella stabbed Gonzalez-Cervantes several times in the upper torso, then fled.
The accusation was never tested in court.
The owner of the property found Gonzalez-Cervantes and called the police. He was pronounced dead at the scene at 5:39 a.m. Investigators said they believed Estrella was staying with relatives in the Los Angeles area, and they described him as armed and dangerous. A weekly Times roundup of killings in the county repeated the account, saying detectives believed "he got into a fight with his roommate, Alejandro Estrella, 21, which escalated to the stabbing."
The record does not say what the two men had been arguing about, how long Gonzalez-Cervantes had lived at the address, or whether he had family nearby or in another country. The fact that the two men shared a single room on a property with a separate owner suggests that it may have been a rented room, but the public record does not say so.
After those first reports in March 2010, the trail goes quiet. No later news story could be found reporting that Estrella was located, arrested or charged, which suggests he may never have been caught, though it is also possible that a later arrest went unreported.
Beyond the details of his death, almost nothing about Miguel Gonzalez-Cervantes has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for this story. Both of his surnames are common, and searches turn up another man of the same name in an unrelated case in Texas, who cannot be tied to this death.
East Compton is an unincorporated community next to the city of Compton, in the southern part of Los Angeles County. It is largely residential, with single-family homes, small apartment buildings and light industry. Because it lies outside any city, it is patrolled by the Sheriff's Department.
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 Miguel Gonzalez-Cervantes could be found in news archives or public records. More than 15 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who knew Miguel Gonzalez-Cervantes or Alejandro Estrella, or who lived on or near Washington Avenue in East Compton in March 2010, may hold information that could help. The Times asked anyone who knew Estrella's whereabouts to contact Detective Lugo or Detective Joe Ramirez at (323) 890-5500. 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 (8477).
