Luis Alonso Lopez was 32 years old when he died on Friday, March 22, 2002, in the Vermont-Slauson neighborhood of South Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at 6625 Bonsallo Ave. 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 recorded his death in a single sentence drawn from coroner's records. It described him as "a 32-year-old Latino male" who "died Friday, March 22, after being stabbed in Vermont-Slauson." The entry gave a street address, but it did not say whether that was his home, the home of someone he knew or simply the place where he was found. No follow-up story appears to have been written.
Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Luis Alonso Lopez 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. Luis Lopez is one of the most common names in the Spanish-speaking world, and even the full name Luis Alonso Lopez is shared by men in Georgia, Florida, Utah and Mexico who have appeared in the news for unrelated reasons, none of whom can be connected to this death.
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.
Vermont-Slauson is a South Los Angeles neighborhood named for the crossing of Vermont Avenue and Slauson Avenue, two of the main commercial streets of the area. Away from those boulevards it is made up of blocks of small single-family homes and low apartment buildings. It falls within the 77th Street Division, which polices a large part of South Los Angeles.
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 Luis Alonso Lopez 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 lived on or near Bonsallo Avenue in South Los Angeles in March 2002, or who knew a 32-year-old man named Luis Lopez in the Vermont-Slauson area, 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).
