Rogelio Parra was 23 years old when he died early on Sunday, October 28, 2007, in South Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds, and the address listed for the case is 5218 Ascot Ave., in the Central-Alameda area. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles Police Department Newton Division case.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report said that Parra "was stabbed in the back during an apparent robbery attempt at 43rd and Ascot Avenue in South-Central Los Angeles at about 4:50 a.m." He was taken to County-USC hospital, "where he died at 5:50 a.m." The report described the suspects as "two Latinos in their late teens."
The same short entry offered a glimpse of who he was. "Parra was a tamale salesman from Guerrero, Mexico, much liked by people in the neighborhood."
The hour of the attack, before dawn on a Sunday, fits the routine of someone who sold food, since tamale vendors often begin their day very early, although the report does not say whether he was working at the time he was stabbed. The words "apparent robbery attempt" suggest that police believed the young men wanted his money, but the entry does not say whether anything was taken.
Beyond those details, almost nothing about Rogelio Parra has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for this story, and no other news outlet appears to have reported on the death. Searches for his name turn up a hair stylist in Northern California, people in Minnesota and Illinois, and researchers in Chile, none of whom can be connected to the young man who died in Los Angeles. He likely had family in Guerrero and friends and customers in South Los Angeles who remember him, but none of that has entered the public record.
Ascot Avenue runs through the Central-Alameda area of South Los Angeles, east of the 110 Freeway and close to Alameda Street and the industrial corridor along it. The neighborhood is made up largely of small houses, apartment buildings, corner stores and workshops. Many residents walk to work, to bus stops or to their jobs before sunrise, and street vendors are a familiar part of life on its sidewalks.
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 Rogelio Parra 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. Two young men in their late teens in 2007 would now be adults in their mid-thirties, and one of them may have spoken about that morning to someone since. Anyone who bought tamales from Rogelio Parra, who knew him in the neighborhood around 43rd Street and Ascot Avenue in October 2007, or who heard about the stabbing in the years since, 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).
