David Flores was 23 years old when he died on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2008, in the city of La Puente in the San Gabriel Valley. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds near East Caldwell Street and Molinar Avenue. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department case.
The coroner's record describes him as a Latino man. The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report said he "was stabbed several times just after noon on Nov. 15, 2008, near the intersection of Cadwell Street and Molinar Avenue in La Puente, coroner's officials said." The report added: "He died several hours after he was attacked."
Those two sentences are almost all that has been made public. They do show that the attack happened in the middle of the day, on a Saturday, in a residential area,. That suggests there may have been people nearby who saw or heard something, although the record does not say whether anyone did.
The fact that he lived for several hours after the attack suggests he was taken for treatment and may have been able to speak with someone before he died, but the record does not say where he was treated or what, if anything, he was able to tell anyone.
Beyond his name, his age and the place where he was attacked, nothing about David Flores has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for this story. David Flores is a very common name, and searches turn up many other men who share it, including people in other states and in other years whose stories have no connection to this one. He surely had family, friends or neighbors who remember who he was, but none of that has entered the public record.
The record does not say whether he was stabbed during a fight or a robbery, by a stranger or by someone he knew, or how many people were involved. It does not say whether he lived in La Puente or was visiting, or whether investigators ever identified a suspect.
La Puente is a small city of roughly 40,000 people in the San Gabriel Valley, east of Los Angeles. It is one of the older communities in the valley, made up mostly of modest single-family homes on quiet residential streets, with many families who have lived there for generations. The city does not have its own police department and contracts with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department for law enforcement, which is why sheriff's homicide detectives handled this case.
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 David Flores could be found in news archives or public records. More than 17 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who was near Caldwell Street and Molinar Avenue around midday on Nov. 15, 2008, who knew a 23-year-old named David Flores from La Puente, or who heard talk about a daytime stabbing there that weekend, 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 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).
