Jose Luis Mora was 22 years old when he died on Tuesday, March 16, 2004, in East Hollywood. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at 1150 N. Western Ave. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles Police Department case, assigned to the Hollywood Division.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report recorded his death in a single sentence drawn from coroner's records. It described him as "a 22-year-old Latino male" who "died Tuesday, March 16, after being stabbed in East Hollywood."
The LAPD's own account of that night tells a different story about how he was hurt. In a news release issued the next day, the department said that on March 16, 2004, "at about 10:00 p.m., patrol officers from Hollywood Division responded to a radio call of shots fired in the area of Western Avenue and Virginia Avenue." When officers arrived, "they saw victims who were shot."
Paramedics took both victims to Cedars-Sinai, where "Jose Luis Mora, a 22 year-old resident of Los Angeles died." The second victim was listed in critical but stable condition, and his name was withheld.
The release described the suspects as "three males, possibly Hispanic, 20-30 years-of-age," and said that "the motive appears to be robbery and gang-related." It asked anyone with information to call Hollywood Area detectives at 213-485-6410. The name, age, date, street and police division all match the coroner's record, so the release almost certainly describes the same death, but the two sources disagree on whether he was shot or stabbed. The public record does not explain the difference.
No later news story or police update could be found, and nothing public says whether the second victim recovered, whether he was able to describe the attackers, or whether the three men were ever identified.
East Hollywood is a busy, densely built neighborhood just east of Hollywood proper. Western Avenue, one of the longest streets in Los Angeles, runs north and south through it, lined with apartment buildings, small shops, restaurants and auto businesses. The neighborhood has long been home to many working families and immigrants, and it includes parts of Thai Town and Little Armenia. The area is patrolled by the LAPD's Hollywood Division.
At 22, Jose Luis Mora was a young man with most of his life ahead of him.
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 Jose Luis Mora 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 Western Avenue and Virginia Avenue on the night of March 16, 2004, or who knew a 22-year-old man named Jose Luis Mora in East Hollywood, may hold information that could help. 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).
