Eric Anthony Acosta was 36 years old when he died on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2009, three days after he was stabbed in Highland Park. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds suffered at North Figueroa Street and Avenue 61. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a case of the Los Angeles Police Department's Northeast Division.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report said that Acosta "was stabbed Oct. 31 at North Figueroa Street and Avenue 61 in Highland Park. He died on Tuesday, Nov. 3, at a hospital, according to Los Angeles County coroner's officials." Ed Winter, a spokesman for the coroner's office, said that "Acosta and another victim were stabbed about 2:29 a.m. on Halloween. The second victim, who was not identified, survived the attack."
A memorial page on Find a Grave records that Eric Anthony Acosta was born on Oct. 6, 1973, and died on Nov. 3, 2009, at the age of 36.
He was buried at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier. No obituary describing his life, his work or his family could be found, and no news outlet appears to have followed up on the attack.
The fact that two people were stabbed at the same corner in the early hours of Halloween suggests that Acosta and the second victim may have been together, or that the attack grew out of a single confrontation, but the record does not say how they were connected. It does not say whether the attacker was a stranger or someone they knew, what started the violence, or whether the man or woman who survived was able to describe the person responsible. That survivor may be one of the few people who saw exactly what happened.
Eric Acosta is also a common name, shared by a university researcher, a child actor and many others across the country, none of whom can be tied to this death.
Highland Park is a hillside neighborhood in northeast Los Angeles, along the Arroyo Seco between downtown and Pasadena. North Figueroa Street is its main commercial corridor, lined with small shops, restaurants and older storefronts, and the neighborhood is known for its Craftsman houses and its long history as a working-class, largely Latino community. A light rail line connects it to downtown.
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 Eric Anthony Acosta could be found in news archives or public records. More than 16 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who was near North Figueroa Street and Avenue 61 in the early morning of Oct. 31, 2009, or who knew a 36-year-old man named Eric Acosta, may hold information that could help. 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 (877-LAPD-24-7), or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477).
