Jhonnathan Sazo was 21 years old when he died on Sunday, July 25, 2004, in Watts. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at the rear of 1360 E. 112th St. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a case of the Los Angeles Police Department's 77th Street Division.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report described him as "a 21-year-old Latino male" who "died Sunday, July 25, after being stabbed in Watts." The address in the record places the death at the rear of a property rather than at its front, which suggests he may have been found behind a house or building, perhaps in a yard, driveway or alley, though the record does not explain the detail. That short entry is nearly all that has been made public about his death.
Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Jhonnathan Sazo 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.
His first name, spelled with an unusual "Jh," makes him easier to tell apart from others than many victims are, and searches turn up very few people who share it. A court record from 2010 also mentions a man by that name, but the portion available for this report does not describe his death, and it could not be confirmed that the case concerns this killing.
Watts is one of the best known neighborhoods in Los Angeles. It lies in the southern part of the city and is famous for the Watts Towers, the soaring folk art structures built by Simon Rodia over several decades, and for the 1965 uprising that drew national attention to conditions in South Los Angeles. The neighborhood is home to several large public housing developments and to many working families, and over the years it changed from a largely Black community to one with a large Latino population. The streets around 112th Street are lined with small houses, many with yards and driveways behind them.
Los Angeles still recorded roughly 480 to 520 homicides a year in the mid-2000s, and many of those killings were never solved.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Jhonnathan Sazo 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 knew Jhonnathan Sazo, or who was near East 112th Street in Watts in late July 2004, 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 call the Los Angeles Police Department at 877-527-3247 (877-LAPD-24-7), or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477).
