John Manuel Barajas, 83, was found unresponsive at his home in the 1000 block of West 227th Street (between Vermont and Normandie avenues) on October 27, 2023, at about 4:40 a.m. Deputies responded to a report of an assault with a deadly weapon and discovered Barajas inside the residence; paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene. The Medical Examiner-Coroner ruled the manner of death homicide, listing multiple blunt force traumatic injuries as the cause and noting atherosclerotic coronary artery disease as a significant condition.

During the initial investigation deputies detained Barajas’s grandson, a man in his 30s, at the scene as a person of interest; authorities have not released his name and no information about formal charges or an arrest has been provided. Barajas was born November 25, 1939, to Clemente and Julia Barajas, who owned the historical Shoestring Market in Torrance; he was a lifelong Torrance-area resident and well known in the community.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau or submit an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers.