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Los Angeles. Detectives are investigating the death of a man in his sixties, found in a bloody crime scene in a room of the Renato Apartments, as single-occupancy residence (SRO) in downtown’s Skid Row, located at 531 South San Julian Street.

Around 7:40 PM, November 9, 2010, a woman flagged down passing officers and told them she heard men fighting in an upstairs apartment at the Renato, but she was not sure which apartment. Two patrol officers narrowed down the fight to the fourth floor and used the manager to open room 415.

“They found a bloody mess inside, and two men all but dead,” said Lt. Paul Vernon, commanding officer the Central Detective Division. “It appears whatever happened stayed within the apartment.”

Paramedics took one man to the hospital. He is expected to survive and is providing some information to detectives. Paramedics pronounced the apartment’s resident, a Hispanic man, dead at the scene.

Detectives found evidence of a struggle and at least one knife inside the small apartment.

“We’ll be talking to the surviving man to get a better idea of what happened,” Lt. Vernon explained. “Clearly this is a homicide, and the evidence should be able to tell us which man was responsible, and as is so common, alcohol appears to have played a big part in this incident.” Detectives did not release either man’s name.

This is the fifth homicide downtown this year. Three of the homicides have been solved by arrests, and detectives expect to make an arrest in a fourth homicide soon.

Two more homicides have been attributed to this year when two victims in unrelated cases died years after the initial crime. One incident was a stabbing in 2008, and the other stemmed from a fist fight last year, in which the victim hit his head on the sidewalk and never regained consciousness.

Anyone with information on this crime is urged to call Detective Al Marengo, Central Homicide Unit, at (213) 842-0727. Anonymous tips can be called into Crimestoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477), or by texting 274637 (C-R-I-M-E-S on most keypads) with a cell phone. All text messages should begin with the letters “LAPD.” Online tips may be placed at www.LAPDOnline.org, click on “webtips” and follow the prompts.

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