James John Short was 36 years old when he died on Wednesday, July 4, 2001, in Montebello. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at 241 S. Park Ave. 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 36-year-old Latino male" who "died Wednesday, July 4, after being stabbed in Montebello." He died on Independence Day, a holiday when many families in the area gather for barbecues and fireworks, but the record does not say whether that played any part in what happened. 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 James John Short 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. Short is a common English surname, and searches for his name return hundreds of unrelated men, including retired teachers, insurance salesmen and veterans whose obituaries were published in Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio, Kentucky and Canada. None of them can be connected to the man who died in Montebello in 2001.
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.
Montebello is a city of about 60,000 people just east of Los Angeles, between East Los Angeles and Pico Rivera. It grew up in the early twentieth century around farms and oil fields and later became a largely residential suburb of single-family homes, apartment buildings and shopping corridors. Most of its residents are working- and middle-class families, and many have lived in the city for generations. Montebello has its own police department, and killings within its limits are investigated by that department rather than by the Los Angeles Police Department or the county sheriff.
The address where Short died lies on a residential street in the city, which suggests that he may have been attacked at or near a home, although the record does not say whether he lived there.
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 James John Short could be found in news archives or public records. More than 24 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who knew a 36-year-old man named James John Short in Montebello, or who was near the 200 block of South Park Avenue on the Fourth of July in 2001, 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 contact the Montebello Police Department, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477).
