(L.A.) Lucrecia Macias Barajas, 46, Died in a Tent
Case Number: 2025-07921
Los Angeles County is reporting the death of a 46-year-old Hispanic female at a homeless encampment.
The coroner’s office has identified the woman as Lucrecia Macias Barajas.
Manner of Death: Accident
Cause of Death: Effects of Fentanyl and Methamphetamine
RIP LUCRECIA MACIAS BARAJAS (May 31, 1978 – May 12, 2025)
Formal pronouncement of death was made on Monday at 7:30 p.m. This was the day after Mother’s Day.
Ruling by the deputy medical examiner was published on July 9, presumably after the results of tox screening had come back from the lab. This is considered an accidental, i.e., unintentional, drug overdose.
The decedent was found lifeless inside a tent on a sidewalk in Westlake, just west of downtown. According to KTLA 5, her body was found by her daughter who had to rip open the “locked” tent. A neighbor said the body was partially eaten by dogs; the medical examiner has yet to confirm or deny that detail.
She was apparently a U.S. Army veteran and mother of six.