Humberto Hernandez-Gonzalez was 34 years old when he was killed in Atlanta on Friday, August 31, 2007. The Atlanta Police Department investigated his death, and the Washington Post's homicide database, which tracked killings in Atlanta from 2007 through 2017, lists it as a homicide that remained open with no arrest.
Beyond his name, his age and the date of his death, almost nothing about Humberto Hernandez-Gonzalez has been made public.
No news story about the killing, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for this account. Because he was Hispanic and 34, it is possible that much of his family lived outside the United States, and that news of his death reached them only through relatives or co-workers. He surely had family, friends and neighbors who remember who he was, but little of that has entered the public record.
Because so little has been released, even the basic circumstances remain unknown. The record does not say how he was killed, whether he was attacked indoors or on the street, whether he knew his attacker, or whether he died at the scene or later at a hospital. It does not say whether investigators ever identified a suspect.
Humberto Hernandez-Gonzalez's name also appears in a 2018 Washington Post investigation that listed thousands of homicide victims in major American cities whose killings had not led to an arrest. Online cold-case listings that carry the Post's record give his age as 34, list the cause of death as murder and name the Atlanta Police Department as the agency, but they add nothing more.
Unlike many names on the list, his is distinctive. Searches for Humberto Hernandez-Gonzalez turn up almost nothing beyond those listings: no obituary, memorial page or news story. That silence may reflect a language barrier, a family far away, or a community that was reluctant to deal with police.
His death came on a Friday, August 31, 2007, the start of the Labor Day holiday weekend. The location recorded in the database places it in southwest Atlanta, south and west of downtown, an area of residential streets, apartment complexes and commercial corridors. People who lived or worked there that weekend may remember the police response, and co-workers may remember the last day he came to work.
Atlanta, the capital of Georgia and the center of a metro area of more than 5 million people, recorded roughly 75 to 130 homicides a year between 2007 and 2017. Most victims were young men killed with guns, and many of those killings never led to an arrest. Cases with few public details often faded from view quickly.
Tips from people in a victim's own community, including co-workers, landlords and friends, can be what moves an old case forward. Crime Stoppers Greater Atlanta does not ask callers for their names, and that may matter to anyone who hesitates to come forward.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Humberto Hernandez-Gonzalez could be found in news archives or public records. More than 19 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who knew Humberto Hernandez-Gonzalez, worked with him, or heard talk afterward of what happened to him, may be able to help. Even a small detail, such as a name overheard, a car seen leaving the area or a conversation remembered, can help detectives move a case forward. Anyone with information can call the Atlanta Police Department Homicide Unit at 404-546-4235, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers Greater Atlanta at 404-577-TIPS (404-577-8477), which may pay a cash reward for information that leads to an arrest.
