David Sanchez was 17 years old when he died on Friday, April 26, 2002, in Sylmar, in the northeast San Fernando Valley. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at 13000 Borden Street. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a case of the Los Angeles Police Department's Foothill Division.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report described him as "a 17-year-old Latino male" who "died Friday, April 26, after being stabbed in Sylmar." The Los Angeles Police Department released a fuller account four days later. According to that release, Foothill Area patrol officers answered a radio call of an "Ambulance ADW," a report of an assault with a deadly weapon, at about 3:45 p.m. at "the park at Astoria Street and Borden Street in Sylmar." They found David, whom the department described as "a 17 year-old resident of Sylmar," stabbed in the upper torso.
Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics took him to a hospital, where he died.
The department's preliminary investigation found that "several males Hispanics, shouting gang names, surrounded the victim and began hitting and kicking the victim." The release continued: "The suspects armed themselves with knives and stabbed the victim before fleeing." Police called the motive "gang related." The release did not say whether David himself had any gang ties, and that should not be assumed. It ended with the words "The suspects have not been arrested," and asked anyone with information to call Foothill Area detectives at 818-834-3115.
No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser for David could be found, and no later news story appears to have followed the case. David Sanchez is a very common name, and searches turn up many other men who share it, including a young man arrested in Arizona years later, none of whom has any connection to this death.
The attack happened in the middle of a spring afternoon, in a public park, and involved several attackers. That suggests that people in or near the park may have seen at least part of what happened, even if they did not know the names of those involved.
Sylmar is the northernmost neighborhood of the city of Los Angeles, a community of single-family homes, ranches and apartment complexes at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains, near where the Golden State and Antelope Valley freeways meet. Its name is tied to the 1971 earthquake that struck the area.
Homicides in Los Angeles rose sharply in the early 2000s, climbing past 600 in 2002, and detectives carried heavy caseloads. Many killings from those years were never solved.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of David Sanchez could be found in news archives or public records. More than 23 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who was at or near the park at Astoria and Borden streets on the afternoon of April 26, 2002, or who heard talk afterward about who attacked a 17-year-old there, 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).
