Matthew Zebaneh was 20 years old when he died on Monday, Jan. 21, 2008, three days after he was stabbed in El Monte. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds suffered at 11937 Magnolia St. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department case.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report, which spelled his name Zabaneh, said that he "was stabbed at 11937 Magnolia St. in El Monte about 10:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 18." He "was taken by ambulance to County-USC Medical Center, where he died Jan. 21. His time of death was listed as 7:59 p.m., according to a coroner's report." The report described him as a Latino man.
Public death records list a Matthew Zebaneh who was born on April 10, 1987, and died on Jan. 21, 2008, at the age of 20, which matches this case. If that record is his, he would have turned 21 that spring.
The two spellings of his last name, Zebaneh and Zabaneh, may make records about him harder to find.
Beyond his name, his age and the place where he was hurt, almost nothing about Matthew Zebaneh 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 case beyond the coroner's entry. He surely had family, friends or neighbors who remember who he was, but none of that has entered the public record.
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 he was hurt indoors or on the street. It does not say who called for help or whether anyone saw what happened. The three days he survived in the hospital suggest that he may have had a chance to speak with investigators or family, but nothing he may have said has been released.
El Monte is one of the older cities of the San Gabriel Valley, east of downtown Los Angeles. Today it is a largely working-class city of modest homes, apartment complexes and busy commercial streets. The case is listed with the Sheriff's Department rather than the city's own police force, which suggests that the address may have fallen in an unincorporated pocket of the area, but the record does not explain that.
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 Matthew Zebaneh could be found in news archives or public records. More than 17 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who knew Matthew Zebaneh, who saw him in the days before Jan. 18, 2008, or who was on or near Magnolia Street in El Monte that Friday night, may hold information that could help detectives. 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).
