Christian Daniel Nino was 22 years old when he died on Sunday, January 1, 2017, in Cypress Park. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds in the 2600 block of Jeffries Avenue. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a case of the Los Angeles Police Department's Northeast Division.
He was killed in the first hours of the new year. The stabbing was reported at 2:18 a.m., according to Sgt. Teresa Anderson of the LAPD's Northeast station, at 2627 Jeffries Ave. When officers arrived, paramedics were already treating Nino, and he was pronounced dead at the scene. The Eastsider reported that he was stabbed once during the altercation.
Police said Nino got into a fight with three young men. City News Service later reported that he was in front of his home when the fight began. "He screamed for his brother's help, and when his sibling came outside, the suspects ran off.
Nino collapsed and died," the service reported, citing police. The three were described as Latino men about 18 to 20 years old who were last seen running north on Jeffries Avenue toward Avenue 28.
In August 2017 the Los Angeles City Council offered a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspects. In January 2018, a year after the killing, detectives stepped up their search and announced that the reward remained in effect. No report could be found that any of the three was ever identified in public.
The record does not say what started the fight, whether Nino knew any of the young men, or whether the encounter had anything to do with New Year's celebrations in the neighborhood. Nothing in the public record suggests what kind of person he was beyond those last minutes, and no obituary or memorial page with details of his life could be confirmed.
Cypress Park is a small, hilly neighborhood in Northeast Los Angeles, close to the Los Angeles River. It is mostly made up of older single-family homes and small apartment buildings on narrow streets, and it lies near Glassell Park and Highland Park. The area is patrolled by the LAPD's Northeast Division.
By the mid-2010s Los Angeles was recording roughly 250 to 300 homicides a year, among the lowest totals in decades, yet many of those killings still went unsolved.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Christian Daniel Nino 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 on Jeffries Avenue in Cypress Park in the early morning of New Year's Day 2017, or who heard three young men talk about a fight there, may hold information that could help. Detectives listed Northeast Division at 323-561-3421. 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 or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
