Rigoberto Navarro Carmona was 28 years old when he died on Sunday, June 24, 2001, in Koreatown. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at 3920 W. 3rd St. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles Police Department Rampart Division case.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report recorded his death in a single sentence drawn from coroner's records. It described him as "a 28-year-old Latino male" who "died Sunday, June 24, after being stabbed in Koreatown." It gave no other details about what happened, and 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 Rigoberto Navarro Carmona 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. Carmona and Navarro are both common surnames across Mexico, Central America and the American Southwest. Searches for his name turn up a Mexican film actor of the 1980s, a seminarian in Indiana and men named in family obituaries in Northern California and Nevada. None of them can be connected to the young man who died in Koreatown 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.
Koreatown is one of the most densely populated neighborhoods in Los Angeles, a district of apartment buildings, office towers, restaurants, nightclubs and shops west of downtown. Many of its residents are immigrants from Korea, Mexico and Central America, and many are renters who work long hours in the area's businesses. Third Street is one of the main east-west corridors through the northern part of the neighborhood, lined with apartment buildings and small commercial strips. Its weekend nightlife draws crowds from across the city. In 2001 this part of Koreatown fell within the LAPD's Rampart Division, which covers a crowded stretch of neighborhoods west and northwest of downtown.
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 Rigoberto Navarro Carmona 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 28-year-old man named Rigoberto Navarro Carmona in Koreatown, or who was near the 3900 block of West 3rd Street in late June 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 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).
