Ramiro Fonseca Jr., a 44-year-old Latino man, was shot and killed in Hawthorne, California, in the early morning hours of October 15, 2020. Officers responded about 2:12 AM to a report of a gunshot victim in the 4200 block of El Segundo Boulevard and found Fonseca in a hotel parking lot. The Los Angeles County Fire Department pronounced him dead at the scene and the Medical Examiner-Coroner determined the cause of death was a gunshot wound.

Investigators from the Hawthorne Police Department opened a homicide investigation. The coroner’s records note Fonseca was homeless at the time, and police said there were no immediate indications that robbery was a motive, so other motives and suspects were being explored. In the days after the shooting there were no reported arrests or identified suspects, and detectives asked the public for help as they worked to reconstruct the events.

If anyone saw activity in the 4200 block of El Segundo Boulevard around 2:00–2:30 AM on October 15, 2020, or has information about Ramiro Fonseca Jr., please contact the Hawthorne Police Department.