Ignacio Juarez, 58

Died June 21, 2007 at 11:10 a.m.

Ignacio Juarez, 58, died after his skull was fractured by blunt force trauma at 11:10 a.m. Thursday, June 21.

His body was found near the southbound I-5 freeway ramp on Riverside Drive as it runs south from Griffith Park to the east of Silver Lake, a section of roadway where homeless people camp in cars. Juarez was a member of a homeless encampment near the overpass.

According to LAPD Northeast Division Det. Harold DiCroce, Juarez had quarrelled with 38-year-old Oswaldo Mangas, a Latino man, and other men from the encampment. Juarez was struck in the face several times with some object. There was broken glass and wood from tree branches near his body.

Mangas was arrested that night. Several days later two other Latino male suspects were arrested and charged with murder. They are Rodrigo Ruiz, 42, and Fernando Tovar-Vasquez, 28. The argument took place in the context of drinking. Juarez's body was left lying near the ramp. Highway Patrol officers at first thought they had a traffic accident on their hands.