Javier Bueno died on Friday, August 4, 2017, his 46th birthday, in Pomona. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at 1690 E. Mission Blvd. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a case of the Pomona Police Department.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report gave a short account. About 10:30 p.m., Pomona police "responded to call about a man lying in the street," according to Sgt. Brian Hagerty. Officers found Bueno with multiple stab wounds. He died at the scene at 10:46 p.m., "on his 46th birthday," according to coroner's records.
Detectives had an early theory about where the attack happened. Hagerty told the Times that detectives believed Bueno "may have been stabbed by transients in a nearby lot of shipping containers and then stumbled into the street." Investigators were "following up with witnesses and looking for surveillance video of the scene," he said.
The Times did not report whether that video was ever found, whether any of the people living near the container lot were identified, or what might have led to the attack.
The record leaves much unsaid about Bueno himself. It does not say where he lived, whether he had family in Pomona, or what brought him to that stretch of Mission Boulevard on the night of his birthday. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser for him could be found, and no follow-up news story appears to have been written.
One trace may exist. A trailer for a short documentary titled "At Least To Say Goodbye," posted on Vimeo in 2019, is tagged with his name along with the words "city of pomona," "pomona police department," "murder" and "homicide." Only those tags could be reviewed for this story, so it is not clear what the film says, but the combination suggests that someone close to the case may have tried to tell his story on camera.
Javier Bueno is a fairly common name. Searches are dominated by a different man, a 43-year-old father from North Chicago, Illinois, who was dragged to death in a cellphone robbery in April 2017. That case was widely reported and led to charges against several teenagers, but it has no connection to the death in Pomona.
Pomona is one of the larger cities in eastern Los Angeles County, an older city in the Pomona Valley that is home to the Fairplex, where the Los Angeles County Fair is held, and to Cal Poly Pomona. Mission Boulevard is one of the main east-west streets crossing the city, lined with businesses, industrial lots and homes.
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 Javier Bueno could be found in news archives or public records. More than eight years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who was near the 1700 block of East Mission Boulevard on the night of August 4, 2017, who spent time around the shipping container lot there, or who knew a man celebrating his 46th birthday that evening, 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. The Times asked anyone with information to call the Pomona Police Department at 620-2085. Anyone with information can contact the Pomona Police Department, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
