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A WeHo man who was found nearly a month ago, unconscious on the side of the road, died Monday. But his friends and family still don't know what happened and are searching for closure.Ramon Estrada, 37, was found unconscious and badly hurt on July 7 between parked cars near the intersection of Mansfield Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard at around 2:10 a.m. He spent nearly a month at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in a coma before succumbing to his injuries, but no one knows how those injuries—which included a broken shoulder and severe head trauma—were inflicted. After reviewing surveillance footage, police believe three men may have been involved in an attack, CBS reports.
What police do know is that Estrada called his long-time partner, Michael Shutt, at 1:45 a.m. to tell him he was on his way home from Gold Coast Bar in WeHo. It's believed he took a bus from the bar, got off at Orange and Santa Monica, and was walking to his nearby home when he was injured. He was not carrying any ID at the time, and the phone he used to call Shutt was missing.
Estrada spent seven days in the hospital as a John Doe until a detective was able to identify him, using a flyer his friends and family were using to locate him.
Shutt told ABC7 that he believes Estrada was intentionally targeted, and police are investigating the possibility that Estrada was the victim of a hate crime.
"Justice needs to be paid," Shutt said. "I lost my boyfriend of 14 years and my partner. My life has flipped upside down."
The investigation is ongoing, and friends and family of Estrada are hoping that anyone with information will come forward and provide closure in this tragic case.
