Daniel F. Contreras was 19 years old when he died on Tuesday afternoon, May 8, 2007, in Pomona. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at 1065 E. Phillips Blvd. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a case of the Pomona Police Department.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report said that Contreras, "a 19-year-old young Latino man, was stabbed and slashed at 1065 E. Phillips Blvd. in Pomona, and died at 3:25 p.m. Tuesday, May 8." The entry did not say what led to the attack, whether it happened indoors or on the street, or whether anyone else was hurt. No news story about the investigation appears to have been written.
An obituary published in the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin the following week offers a fuller picture of who he was. It said that he "passed away May 8, 2007 in Pomona" and that "He was born April 28, 1988 in Pomona and was a resident of Pomona for 10 years."
According to the obituary, he "graduated in 2006 from Cape Henlopen High School, Lewes, Delaware and attended Georgetown Tech College for engineering." It said that he had worked as "a grocery clerk for 2 months at WinCo Foods" and that he "was a member of Victory Outreach Church of Pomona."
The obituary listed a large family that survived him, including his mother, Debbie Rodriguez, sisters, brothers, a grandmother, many cousins, aunts and uncles, and two godmothers. Visitation and a prayer service were held at Todd Memorial Chapel in Pomona, with services at Victory Outreach Church and burial at Holy Cross Cemetery in Pomona.
Those details describe a young man who had recently finished high school, had studied engineering and had just started a job, and who had deep family roots in Pomona. Nothing in the public record explains why he was attacked on an ordinary weekday afternoon. The fact that the stabbing happened in daylight suggests that people may have been nearby, but the record does not say whether anyone saw what happened or whether police ever identified a suspect.
Pomona is one of the oldest and largest cities in the eastern part of Los Angeles County, near the border with San Bernardino County. It is home to the Fairplex, where the Los Angeles County Fair is held, and to Cal Poly Pomona, and it is a diverse, largely working-class city with 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 Daniel F. Contreras 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 was near East Phillips Boulevard in Pomona on the afternoon of May 8, 2007, or who knew Daniel from church, work or the neighborhood, 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 Pomona Police Department, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477).
