Armando Reynada Jr. was 28 years old when he died on Thursday, October 12, 2006, in South Pasadena. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at 815 Fremont Ave. 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 described him as "a 28-year-old Latino male" who "died Thursday, Oct. 12, after being stabbed in South Pasadena." That short entry, drawn from coroner's records, is nearly the whole of the public record on his death.
Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Armando Reynada Jr. 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.
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.
Armando Reynada is not a common name, but searches still turn up other people who share it, including university students in Mexico and a man who posts about lost pets in the Inland Empire. None of them can be connected to this death, and the "Jr." in his name suggests that he may have been named after his father, who could have been among the relatives left behind.
South Pasadena is a small city in the western San Gabriel Valley, set between Pasadena, the Highland Park and El Sereno areas of Los Angeles, and Alhambra and San Marino. It is known for its tree-lined streets, older homes, well-regarded public schools and a compact downtown along Mission Street, served by a light rail station. Fremont Avenue is one of the city's main north-south streets, passing through neighborhoods of houses, apartment buildings and small businesses. A stabbing in such a quiet community would normally draw attention, which makes the silence around this case all the more striking. It may also mean that someone in the neighborhood saw or heard something that night and never reported it.
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 Armando Reynada Jr. could be found in news archives or public records. More than 19 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who was near Fremont Avenue in South Pasadena in October 2006, or who knew Armando Reynada Jr. and spent time with him in the days before his death, 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).
