Francisco Velazquez was 33 years old when he died on Saturday, February 20, 2010, in Compton. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at 307 S. Burris Ave. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a case of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report said that Velazquez "died Saturday, Feb. 20, after being stabbed in the 300 block of South Burris Ave. in Compton." According to sheriff's officials, he "was visiting a friend when he was confronted by three other men, one of whom pulled a knife and stabbed him." He was taken to St. Francis Medical Center and pronounced dead at 11:10 p.m.
The entry did not say whether the three men were strangers or people Velazquez knew, what led to the confrontation, or whether anything was taken from him. It did not describe the men or say how they left.
The Times asked anyone with more information to call the Sheriff's Homicide Bureau.
Beyond his name, his age and the place where he was hurt, almost nothing about Francisco Velazquez has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for this story, and no other news outlet appears to have reported on the death. He surely had family, friends and the friend he had come to visit, people who remember who he was, but none of that has entered the public record. Francisco Velazquez is a very common name in Southern California and across the Spanish-speaking world, and searches turn up many other men who share it, including a Mexican monster-truck driver and men in Texas, Illinois and Florida, none of whom can be tied to this death.
Because so little was released, much remains unknown to the public. The record does not say whether Velazquez lived in Compton or had traveled there, whether the confrontation happened inside or outside the friend's home, or whether the friend saw the attack. It does not say whether detectives ever identified any of the three men.
Compton is a city of roughly 100,000 people in the southern part of Los Angeles County, between Los Angeles and Long Beach. It is largely residential, with single-family homes on quiet side streets, and it is home to a long-established Black community and a large and growing Latino population. Since 2000, the city has contracted with the Sheriff's Department for police services, so homicides there are investigated by the department's Homicide Bureau.
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 Francisco Velazquez could be found in news archives or public records. More than 15 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who was on or near South Burris Avenue in Compton on the night of February 20, 2010, or who knew a 33-year-old man named Francisco Velazquez, 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).
