Eric Huerta was 23 years old when he died on Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2005, in Valinda, an unincorporated community in the San Gabriel Valley. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at 16021 Amar Road. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department case.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report described him as "a 23-year-old Latino male" who "died Wednesday, Oct. 12, after being stabbed in Valinda." That short entry, drawn from coroner's records, is nearly everything that has been made public about his death.
Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Eric Huerta has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for this story, and no news outlet appears to have reported on the death.
He surely had family, friends or neighbors 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.
Eric Huerta is a fairly common name, and searches turn up many other men who share it, including men named in court and arrest records in Idaho, Kansas, Florida and Orange County, a man named in a 2011 Los Angeles Times nightlife story, and men whose obituaries were published in Texas, North Carolina and California. None of them can be connected to this death. A man of 23 was only beginning his adult life, and he very likely left behind parents, brothers or sisters and friends who still remember him.
Valinda is an unincorporated area of Los Angeles County in the eastern San Gabriel Valley, bordered by the cities of La Puente and West Covina. Because it is not part of any city, it is policed by the Sheriff's Department. It is a largely residential community of single-family homes built in the decades after World War II, with schools, parks and small shopping centers along its main roads. Amar Road is one of the main east-west streets through the area, carrying traffic between neighborhoods of the San Gabriel Valley. In a community of families who often know one another, someone may have seen or heard something that day.
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 Eric Huerta could be found in news archives or public records. More than 20 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who was on or near Amar Road in Valinda in October 2005, or who knew Eric Huerta and spent time with him in the days before his death, 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 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).
