Richard Hernandez

Richard Hernandez was 24 years old when he died on Friday, August 1, 2003, in Montebello. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at 901 Via San Clemente. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Montebello Police Department case.

The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report recorded his death in a single sentence drawn from coroner's records. It described him as "a 24-year-old Latino male" who "died Friday, Aug. 1, after being stabbed in Montebello." The entry gave a street address, but it did not say whether he lived there, whether he was visiting or whether that was simply where he was found. No follow-up story about his death appears to have been published.

Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Richard Hernandez 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. Richard Hernandez is one of the most common names in Southern California, and searches are flooded with other men who share it, including a man shot to death in Kansas in 2024, men convicted in unrelated cases in Ventura and San Jose and many obituaries from other states. A Richard Hernandez is listed as a 1997 graduate of Montebello High School, which would fit his age, but nothing in the record confirms that he is the same man, and it should not be assumed.

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.

At 24, he was barely past his teenage years, and he may well have grown up in Montebello or in nearby East Los Angeles, though the record does not say so.

Montebello is a city of about 60,000 people just east of East Los Angeles, made up largely of single-family neighborhoods along with apartments, shopping centers and the Montebello Hills. It has long had a large Mexican American population, and many families there trace their roots to neighboring East Los Angeles and Boyle Heights. The city runs its own police department, which is responsible for investigating homicides inside its limits.

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 Richard Hernandez could be found in news archives or public records. More than 22 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who knew a 24-year-old man named Richard Hernandez in Montebello, or who lived on or near Via San Clemente in early August 2003, 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 contact the Montebello Police Department, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477).