Carlos Trujillo was 16 years old when he died on Tuesday, August 24, 2004, in Inglewood. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at South Eucalyptus and West Magnolia avenues. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as an Inglewood Police Department case.
The coroner's record describes him as a Latino teenager. Little else about him has been made public. A death notice for a Carlos Trujillo of Los Angeles was published in the Los Angeles Times around September 1, 2004, about a week after he died. The notice gives that Carlos Trujillo's birth date as October 17, 1987, which would have made him 16 in August 2004, the same age as the boy who died in Inglewood. That suggests the notice is his, although only a short excerpt of it could be read for this story, and it does not describe the circumstances of his death.
If the birth date is his, Carlos was less than two months away from his 17th birthday.
He would have been of high school age, and his death would have been felt by classmates, teachers and friends as well as his family. Nothing published says where he went to school, who his family members were, or what he hoped to do with his life.
Because so little has been released, even the basic circumstances remain unknown to the public. The coroner placed his death at a street intersection rather than at a house number, which may mean he was hurt or found outdoors. The record does not say whether he was attacked by a stranger or by someone he knew, whether there was an argument first, what time of day it happened, whether he died at the scene or later at a hospital, or whether anyone saw what happened.
Inglewood is a city of its own in southwestern Los Angeles County, just east of Los Angeles International Airport. It has its own police department, which investigates killings within its limits. The city is known for the Forum, the longtime arena on Manchester Boulevard, and for the former Hollywood Park racetrack, and it is made up largely of residential neighborhoods of houses and apartment buildings. Eucalyptus Avenue and Magnolia Avenue are streets in one of those residential areas.
Hundreds of people are killed in Los Angeles County every year, and a large share of those killings end without an arrest.
A teenager stabbed at a street corner is the kind of case in which other young people often know more than they tell. Friends may have heard who was involved, or may have seen an argument or a group gathering earlier in the day.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Carlos Trujillo could be found in news archives or public records. More than 21 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who was near Eucalyptus and Magnolia avenues in Inglewood in late August 2004, who knew Carlos or his friends, or who heard talk afterward about what happened to him, may hold information that could help detectives. 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 Inglewood Police Department, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477).
