The tragic death of Lucrecia Macias Barajas, a 46-year-old U.S. Army veteran, has ignited serious concerns regarding the Los Angeles Police Department’s handling of her case.
Barajas’s body was discovered on May 12 by one of her three daughters, who tracked her mother’s cellphone to a large, tarp-covered shelter in Westlake.
This location is notorious for its homeless encampment, and, alongside Barajas, another unidentified man’s lifeless body was found.
After making this horrifying discovery, the daughter was seen on video wailing on the ground and pleading with officers to remove her mother’s body.
The LAPD has classified Barajas’s death as a suspected drug overdose and stated it is not investigating it as a homicide.
However, her daughters disagree, adamantly asserting that the LAPD was premature in dismissing the possibility of foul play.
They highlight a series of suspicious details surrounding their mother’s death, including that the entrance to the shelter was locked from the outside.
Additionally, a resident reported hearing a woman screaming for help just hours before the bodies were found, intensifying the suspicions.
Hans Salinas, 25, told The Times that he awoke to a heated argument between a man and a woman near the shelter at 3:30 a.m. on May 11.
Salinas said he heard the woman scream for help but did not intervene due to fear of being attacked.
The following day, Salinas and his girlfriend Josie Vega, 25, were devastated to learn about the deaths.
Vega expressed sympathy for the daughter who found her mother, particularly coming a day after Mother’s Day.
In response to the family’s heightened concerns, LAPD officials expressed their intent to investigate their claims.
The office of Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, which oversees the Westlake district, is in contact with the LAPD to ensure the family receives the answers they deserve.
Barajas’s daughters have also expressed fears for their own safety, requesting that their identities remain confidential.
They presented a police detective’s card that noted the case as an “overdose investigation,” further emphasizing their distress.
According to the app they used to track their mother’s cellphone, Barajas had arrived at the encampment two hours before the reported screams were heard.
Later, the app indicated that her phone was located at a park just three blocks away after the bodies were discovered and removed.
The sisters have accused the police of inadequacies in their investigation, claiming vital evidence, including security cameras and their mother’s cellphone, went missing.
Moreover, video footage obtained by NBC4 shows someone removing the cameras from the shelter.
The daughters allege that the dogs, a pit bull mix and a shepherd mix, remained in the shelter alongside the bodies for at least eight hours after Barajas’s body was found.
One daughter noted that the dogs had even bitten into the corpse, a claim that officials could not confirm.
Despite Barajas’s body not being removed until the following day, animal services did eventually take the dogs for evidence collection.
The homeless encampment is located near Huntley Drive, just 500 feet from educational facilities and city offices.
According to residents, the man living in the shelter had a known presence in the neighborhood for over three years, allegedly running a drug operation.
They mentioned that repeated complaints about his activities were made to the LAPD, yet no apparent action was taken.
Multiple signs in the area indicate it is designated as a 41.18 special enforcement zone, which prohibits camping.
Nevertheless, residents report that the man continued to operate with little consequence from law enforcement.
The Los Angeles County medical examiner has not yet publicly identified the man found deceased alongside Barajas, and autopsy results remain pending.
In the wake of these deaths, a homeless man known as “Pablo” stated he recognized the deceased male and added that he was previously in a relationship with a woman who perished in an RV fire on the same street in January.
The woman from that incident was identified as 23-year-old Angela Castillo.
The incident has amplified scrutiny on the area plagued by issues such as gang violence, drug abuse, homelessness, and organized retail theft.
While city officials claim to have made progress in addressing these matters, crime statistics show reported incidents have recently declined, aside from burglaries and break-ins.
Although they received reports about encampments near Miguel Contreras Learning Complex, city officials claimed they were unaware of those specifically on Huntley Drive until now.
The tent where Barajas and the unidentified man were found was situated on private ground and mostly out of sight, yet it has been documented visually from the street.
The councilwoman’s office has labeled these deaths as not only “horrific” but also as an “unacceptable tragedy,” expressing a commitment to support those affected.
Eunisses Hernandez’s office is coordinating with city departments and outreach teams to provide culturally competent support to impacted individuals.
They emphasized that this devastating incident underscores the need for significant investments in harm reduction and housing-first policies.
Barajas’s daughters, who had once again united in mourning, recounted their mother’s journey, including her resilience and determination.
Barajas was born in Nicaragua and emigrated in 1986 with her family, fleeing a civil war.
She served in the Army during the late 1990s or early 2000s, following in her father’s footsteps from Nicaragua.
The daughters recounted that their mother began to struggle with methamphetamine addiction around 2017, during a time when she was battling Stage 3 lymphoma.
They had been unaware of her struggles, with Barajas hiding her pain from her children, worried about causing them distress.
At one point, she left her children with her parents due to life’s escalating challenges.
In a 2020 interview, Barajas detailed her struggles with addiction and homelessness, sharing how she eventually overcame her addiction.
Despite her challenges, she remained supportive of other homeless individuals whom she had connected with during her own struggles.
As the daughters continue to seek answers for their mother’s untimely demise, they emphasize that they believe her death involved more than just an overdose.
They are also mobilizing community support to raise funds for her funeral expenses and advocate for improvements in city policies affecting the homeless community.
Advocating for change, one daughter expressed their resolve: “Nothing we do is going to bring her back, but we don’t want another girl crying because her mom passed away in one of those places.”
image source from：https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-05-27/screaming-heard-before-bodies-found-at-homeless-encampment
