Brasilio Cun Cutzal was 26 years old when he died on Sunday, Sept. 1, 2013, in Compton. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds in the 4600 block of East Alondra Boulevard. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau case.
The coroner's records describe him as a white man. What happened to him was told briefly by the Los Angeles Times Homicide Report, based on information from the Sheriff's Department. In the early hours of that Sunday, Brasilio was standing in front of the Los Dos Amigos bar on Alondra Boulevard. He had just ordered from a food truck when two people, described by witnesses as Black men, walked by on the sidewalk, said Lt. John Corina of the Sheriff's Department. The two men then walked back to him, and one of them stabbed him, Corina said.
Deputies responded at 2:57 a.m., according to a news release from the department.
Brasilio was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 3:37 a.m., according to coroner's records. The records show that he suffered a stab wound to the right upper abdomen. The account does not say whether any words were exchanged before the attack, whether anything was taken from him, or whether he knew the men who approached him. The way the two men passed by and then turned back suggests that something may have drawn their attention to him in those few moments, but the reports do not say what it was.
Beyond these details, almost nothing about Brasilio's life has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for this story, and his name appears online mainly in listings copied from the Homicide Report. His case surfaced in the news once more about six months later. In March 2014, after another man was found fatally stabbed in the same block of East Alondra Boulevard, the Los Angeles Times recalled that "About six months ago, 26-year-old Brasilio Cun Cutzal was fatally stabbed in the same block of East Alondra Boulevard, according to L.A. County coroner's records." No connection between the two deaths was reported.
Compton is a city of about 95,000 people in southern Los Angeles County, between Los Angeles and Long Beach. The city disbanded its own police department in 2000 and has since contracted with the Sheriff's Department for law enforcement, which is why sheriff's homicide investigators handle killings there. Alondra Boulevard is one of its main east-west roads, lined with small businesses, bars, auto shops and restaurants.
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 Brasilio Cun Cutzal could be found in news archives or public records. More than 12 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. The witnesses who described the two men that night, the people working or eating at the food truck, and anyone who was inside or outside the Los Dos Amigos bar in the early hours of Sept. 1, 2013, may hold information that could help investigators. 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 Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
