Mario Alberto Monzon-Fernandez was 27 years old when he died on Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2007, in Culver City. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds near Washington Boulevard and Wade Street. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Culver City Police Department case.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report recorded his death in a single sentence drawn from coroner's records. It described him as "a 27-year-old Latino male" who "died Wednesday, Sept. 5, after being stabbed in Culver City." The entry gave an intersection rather than a street address, which suggests that he was hurt or found outdoors, on or near the street, but it did not say so directly. No follow-up story appears to have been written.
Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Mario Alberto Monzon-Fernandez 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 double surname, is unusual enough that it might have been expected to turn up somewhere, yet searches for it found nothing beyond the coroner's record. That may mean he had not been in the area long, or simply that his life left few traces online, but the record does not say which.
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.
Culver City is a small, independent city on the Westside of Los Angeles County, surrounded almost entirely by the city of Los Angeles. It has long been tied to the film business and is home to the historic studio lot that once belonged to MGM and is now used by Sony Pictures. Washington Boulevard is one of its main streets, an east-west road lined with shops, restaurants, auto businesses and apartment buildings. Because the city has its own police department, killings there are investigated by Culver City detectives rather than the LAPD or the Sheriff's Department.
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 Mario Alberto Monzon-Fernandez could be found in news archives or public records. More than 18 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who knew a 27-year-old man named Mario Alberto Monzon-Fernandez, or who was near Washington Boulevard and Wade Street in early September 2007 and saw a fight, an injured man or someone running from the area, 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 Culver City Police Department, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477).
