Christopher Thomas Arviso was 27 years old when he died on Sunday, January 23, 2011, in Compton. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at 1333 E. Glencoe St. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau case.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report described him as "a 27-year-old Latino" who "was fatally stabbed Sunday, Jan. 23, in the 1300 block of East Glencoe Avenue in Compton." The stabbing happened at 5:50 p.m., early on a winter evening. Sheriff's officials said he was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. In an update a few days later, Ed Winter, a spokesman for the coroner's office, said "Arviso was in an argument prior to being stabbed." He was taken to St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood, where he died at 6:38 p.m., less than an hour after he was hurt.
That short account leaves most questions open.
It does not say who he was arguing with, whether that person was a stranger, a neighbor or someone he knew well, or what the argument was about. It does not say whether the stabbing happened inside a home or out on the street, whether anyone else was present, or whether anyone tried to help him before deputies and paramedics arrived. No description of a suspect was released, and the Times did not report any later update on the investigation.
Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Christopher Arviso has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for this story, and no news outlet other than the Times appears to have reported on the death. Searches for his name turn up other men called Christopher Arviso in Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado, none of whom can be tied to this death. He surely had family, friends or neighbors who remember who he was, but none of that has entered the public record.
Compton is a city of nearly 100,000 people in the southern part of Los Angeles County, between Los Angeles and Long Beach. It is a largely working-class community of single-family homes, small apartment buildings and industrial areas, crossed by major roads such as Alameda Street and the Long Beach Boulevard corridor. The city disbanded its own police department in 2000, and since then the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has provided its law enforcement, which is why sheriff's homicide detectives handled this case.
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 Christopher Thomas Arviso could be found in news archives or public records. More than 14 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. The argument that came before the stabbing suggests that the person who stabbed him may have been someone who was with him, or who knew him, that Sunday evening. Anyone who was on or near East Glencoe Avenue in Compton around 5:30 to 6 p.m. on January 23, 2011, or who later heard talk about an argument there, 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. 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 (8477).
