Paul Brisuela

Paul Brisuela was 20 years old when he died early on Saturday, Dec. 22, 2007, in Covina, a city in the eastern San Gabriel Valley. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at 330 W. Rowland Ave. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a case of the Covina Police Department.

The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report mentioned his death twice. A first list of recent victims said that Brisuela, "a Latino man, was stabbed at 330 W. Rowland in Covina and died at 1:26 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 22." A later entry repeated that he "died Saturday, Dec. 22, after being stabbed in Covina, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records." The Times credited the San Gabriel Valley Tribune for the first report, but that article could not be found for this story.

That is nearly all the public record holds. The time of death, less than an hour and a half after midnight, suggests that he was hurt late on Friday night or in the first minutes of Saturday, in the last days before Christmas. The record does not say whether he died at the scene or at a hospital, and it does not describe what led up to the stabbing.

Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Paul Brisuela has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found, and no news outlet other than the two outlets above appears to have reported on the death. Brisuela is an uncommon spelling of the surname, and searches turned up no other public record that could be tied to him. He surely had family and friends who were preparing for the holidays when he died, and who remember who he was, but none of that has entered the public record.

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.

Covina lies in the eastern San Gabriel Valley, east of downtown Los Angeles. It grew up as a citrus town, and its small downtown along Citrus Avenue still keeps some of that history. Today it is a largely residential suburb of single-family homes, apartment complexes and shopping centers, crossed by busy east-west streets. The city has its own police 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 Paul Brisuela could be found in news archives or public records. More than 18 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who knew a 20-year-old named Paul Brisuela, or who was on or near the 300 block of West Rowland Avenue in Covina late on Dec. 21 or early on Dec. 22, 2007, 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 Covina Police Department, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477).