Danny Alexander Romero was 17 years old when he died on Saturday, May 2, 2009, in Huntington Park, southeast of downtown Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at 3932 Cudahy Ave. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Huntington Park Police Department case.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report recorded his death in two short sentences. It described him as "a 17-year-old Latino" who "died from several stab wounds on Saturday, May 2," and said that "The incident took place in the 3900 block of Cudahy Avenue in Huntington Park." The entry did not say whether that address was his home, how he came to be there, or whether anyone else was hurt. No follow-up story appears to have been written.
Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Danny Romero has been made public.
No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for this story, and no news outlet appears to have reported on the death. He surely had family, friends or neighbors who remember who he was, but none of that has entered the public record. He was still a teenager, young enough that he may have been in high school. Danny Romero is also a common name, and searches turn up many other men who share it, including boxers, writers and a man in another state who pleaded guilty in an unrelated case, none of whom can be connected to this death.
Because so little has been released, even the basic circumstances remain unknown to the public. The record does not say whether he was stabbed during a fight or a robbery, attacked by a stranger or by someone he knew, or hurt indoors or on the street. It does not say what time of day he was hurt, whether he died at the scene or later at a hospital, whether anyone saw what happened, or whether investigators ever identified a suspect.
Huntington Park is a small, densely populated city in southeast Los Angeles County, surrounded by Los Angeles, Vernon, Bell, South Gate and other cities. It covers only about three square miles, but it is home to tens of thousands of people, most of them Latino, many living in apartments and older single-family houses on narrow lots. Pacific Boulevard, its main shopping street, has long drawn shoppers from across the region. The city has its own police department, which handles homicides within its limits.
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 Danny Alexander Romero 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. Young people who knew him at school or in the neighborhood may have heard something in the days after his death, even if they never told anyone. Anyone who knew a 17-year-old named Danny Romero in Huntington Park, or who was near the 3900 block of Cudahy Avenue in May 2009, 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 contact the Huntington Park Police Department, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477).
