Juvenal Alcaraz Gomez was 52 years old when he died on Sunday, July 31, 2005, in Rosemead, a city in the western San Gabriel Valley. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at New and Hellman avenues. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Monterey Park Police Department case.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report described him as "a 52-year-old Latino male" who "died Sunday, July 31, after being stabbed in Rosemead." The location given is an intersection rather than a street address, which suggests he may have been found outdoors, on or near the street, though the record does not say so. Rosemead itself is patrolled by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, so the listing of the Monterey Park Police Department suggests the spot may have fallen within or right beside Monterey Park's jurisdiction, though the record does not explain it.
Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing
about Juvenal Alcaraz Gomez 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.
Juvenal Gomez is a less common name than many, but searches still turned up several men who share it, with obituaries in Whittier, Bellflower, Dallas and San Antonio. A brief newspaper death notice under the name Juvenal Gomez was also published in Los Angeles in 2005, but no text of it could be found, so it cannot be confirmed that it refers to this man. At 52, he had likely spent decades building ties with family, coworkers and neighbors, and somebody would have noticed when he did not come home that weekend.
Rosemead and Monterey Park are neighboring cities in the western San Gabriel Valley, a few miles east of downtown Los Angeles. Both are largely residential, with single-family homes, apartment buildings and busy commercial streets, and both have large Latino and Asian American communities. Garvey Avenue and the San Bernardino Freeway cross the area, and the streets around them carry steady traffic through much of the day and evening.
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 Juvenal Alcaraz Gomez 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 knew Juvenal Gomez, or who was near New and Hellman avenues at the end of July 2005, may hold information that could help investigators. 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 Monterey Park Police Department, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477).
