Esther Perez was 37 years old when she died on Friday, July 15, 2005. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, she died of stab wounds. Her death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Pomona Police Department case. The record does not give an address or a neighborhood, but the listing suggests she was attacked in Pomona.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report described her as "a 37-year-old Latino female" who "died Friday, July 15, after being stabbed." That single sentence is nearly all that has been made public about her death. Even the place where she was hurt has not been released.
Beyond her name, her age and the place where she died, almost nothing about Esther Perez 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.
She surely had family, friends or neighbors who remember who she 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 she was stabbed during a fight or a robbery, attacked by a stranger or by someone she knew, or hurt indoors or on the street. It does not say what time of day she was hurt, whether she died at the scene or later at a hospital, whether anyone saw what happened, or whether investigators ever identified a suspect.
Esther Perez is a very common name, and searches turned up many women who share it, among them a woman arrested in New Jersey years later, and women whose obituaries appeared in Los Angeles, Northridge and other places. None of them can be connected to the woman who died in July 2005. At 37, she very likely left behind family members and friends, and perhaps children, who still remember her and who may still be waiting for answers.
Because the record gives no address, it is not known which part of the city she was in when she was hurt. Pomona is one of the larger 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. The city is a mix of older neighborhoods of single-family homes, apartment complexes, and commercial corridors such as Holt Boulevard and Foothill Boulevard, with several freeways crossing it.
Hundreds of people are killed in Los Angeles County every year, and a large share of those killings end without an arrest.
When so little has been released, the people who knew a victim become the most important source of information. Relatives, coworkers and friends may remember where Esther Perez was living in the summer of 2005, whom she was spending time with, and whether anyone had threatened her.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Esther Perez 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 Esther Perez, or who heard about a woman being stabbed in Pomona in mid-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 Pomona Police Department, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477).
