Maria Lourdes Carranza was 21 years old when she died on Sunday, February 6, 2005, in Palmdale. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, she died of stab wounds at 5th Street East and Avenue R 8. Her death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau case.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report described her as "a 21-year-old Latino female" who "died Sunday, Feb. 6, after being stabbed in Palmdale." That short entry is nearly all that has been made public about her death.
Beyond her name, her age and the place where she died, almost nothing about Maria Lourdes Carranza 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.
Maria Carranza is a very common name, and searches turn up many women who share it, including a Texas woman with the same full name and women remembered in obituaries in Michigan and Illinois. None of them can be connected to the young woman who died in Palmdale. At 21, she was just beginning her adult life, and she very likely left behind parents, brothers and sisters, and friends who still remember her.
Palmdale is a city in the Antelope Valley, in the high desert of northern Los Angeles County, on the other side of the San Gabriel Mountains from the Los Angeles basin. It grew quickly in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s as families looking for more affordable homes moved north, and it is known for its aerospace industry, including the Air Force plant where military aircraft have been built and tested. The city contracts with the Sheriff's Department for police service. Its streets follow a grid, with numbered streets running north and south and lettered avenues running east and west. The location in the record is an intersection rather than a street address, which suggests she may have been found outdoors, on or near the street, though the record does not say so.
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 Maria Lourdes Carranza 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 Maria Carranza, or who was near 5th Street East and Avenue R 8 in Palmdale in early February 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 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).
