Catarino Meza-Amaro was 45 years old when he died on Friday, Jan. 9, 2009, in the city of Compton in southern Los Angeles County. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at 1740 N. Santa Fe Ave. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department case.
The coroner's record describes him as a Latino man. The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report entry for him is only a single sentence, stating that he "died Friday, Jan. 9, after being stabbed in Compton, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records." No follow-up story was ever written about him, and no detective was quoted about the case.
Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Catarino Meza-Amaro 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. His full name, with its hyphenated pair of surnames, is distinctive, yet searches for it in news archives and public records turned up nothing beyond the coroner's entry.
Because so little has been released, even the basic circumstances remain unknown to the public. 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 hurt indoors or on the street. It does not say what time of day he was hurt, whether he died at the scene or later at a hospital, whether anyone saw what happened, or whether investigators ever identified a suspect.
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 known nationally for its place in music and sports history, and locally for its tight-knit neighborhoods of single-family homes, many of them owned by families who have lived there for decades. The city disbanded its own police department in 2000, and since then the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has provided its police services, which is why this case belongs to the sheriff's homicide detectives. Santa Fe Avenue is one of the long avenues that cross the city, lined with homes, small businesses and industrial lots.
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 Catarino Meza-Amaro 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 him, who worked or lived near 1740 N. Santa Fe Ave. in January 2009, or who heard talk in the neighborhood about a stabbing there at the start of that year, may hold information that could help investigators. Relatives who lost touch with a man by that name around that time may also be able to 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).
