Gregorio De La Hoz was 81 years old when he died on Thursday, Jan. 1, 2009, New Year's Day, in the Westlake district just west of downtown Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at 1208 1/4 W. 8th St. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles Police Department Rampart Division case.
The coroner's record describes him as a white man. The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report said that he "died after he was stabbed three times Jan. 1, 2009, in the 1200 block of West 8th Street in Westlake, according to Los Angeles County coroner's officials." Unlike many entries from that period, this one included a short account of what happened, given by Ed Winter, a spokesman for the coroner's office.
According to that account, "a neighbor heard shouting coming from an apartment and called police."
The Times report continued: "When police arrived at the scene they found a suspect washing blood off of his hands, and De La Hoz and Jose Macias, a 55-year-old Latino, stabbed in the living room." The report did not say what happened to Jose Macias, whether he survived, or how the two men knew each other. It also did not name the person police found at the scene or say whether that person was arrested.
That brief description suggests the attack took place inside a home rather than on the street, and that police arrived quickly enough to find someone still there. It may mean that investigators had a suspect from the very first minutes of the case. Yet no later news story, court record or police statement connected to the death of Gregorio De La Hoz could be found, so it is not publicly known whether anyone was ever charged.
Nothing else about his life has been made public. No obituary or memorial page for him could be found, and the record does not say how long he had lived in Westlake, whether the apartment was his home, or whether he had family nearby. At 81, he would have been one of the oldest residents of a neighborhood better known for its young families.
Westlake is one of the most densely populated neighborhoods in Los Angeles. It grew up around MacArthur Park in the early 1900s as a fashionable district, and today it is a working-class area of older apartment buildings, small shops and street vendors, home to many immigrant families. Eighth Street runs through the neighborhood a few blocks from the park, past rows of apartment houses.
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 Gregorio De La Hoz 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 lived in or near the building at 1208 W. 8th St. on New Year's Day 2009, who knew Gregorio De La Hoz or Jose Macias, or who knows what became of the person police found at the scene, 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. 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).
