Hugo Negrete was 17 years old when he was stabbed to death in the early hours of Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009, in the El Monte area of the San Gabriel Valley. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at 11112 Bonwood Road, and the coroner's records list his date of death as Nov. 8. 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 Negrete, "a 17-year-old Latino, was stabbed to death Saturday, Nov. 7, in the 11000 block of Bonwood Road in El Monte, authorities said." The death "was reported about 3 a.m.," according to Sheriff's Deputy Lillian Peck. Negrete "was pronounced dead at the scene," and he "was stabbed about four times, according to coroner's investigators."
The difference between the reported date and the coroner's date may simply reflect when his death was formally recorded.
That is nearly everything the public record holds. The report does not say whether he lived on Bonwood Road or was visiting, whether he was alone or with friends, or what led to the attack. The early hour suggests that he may have been out with others late on a Friday night, but nothing released confirms that.
Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Hugo Negrete has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for this story, and no news outlet appears to have reported on the death. He surely had family, friends or neighbors who remember who he was, but none of that has entered the public record. Hugo Negrete is also a name shared by many other men, including doctors in Michigan and Mexico and students in Northern California, none of whom has any connection to this death.
Because so little was released, even the basic circumstances remain unknown. The record does not say whether he was stabbed during a fight or a robbery, attacked by a stranger or by someone he knew, or whether anyone saw what happened. It does not say whether detectives ever identified a suspect or a motive.
El Monte is one of the older communities in the San Gabriel Valley, east of downtown Los Angeles, a largely working-class area of modest homes, apartment complexes and busy commercial boulevards. The fact that the Sheriff's Department, rather than the El Monte Police Department, handled the case may mean that the location lay in an unincorporated pocket near the city, but the record does not say so.
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 Hugo Negrete could be found in news archives or public records. More than 16 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who knew a 17-year-old named Hugo Negrete, or who was near Bonwood Road in the El Monte area in the early morning of Nov. 7, 2009, 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).
