(L.A.) Santiago Rivera, 22, Died in a Parking Lot

Case Number: 2025-00609

Los Angeles County is reporting the death of a 22-year-old Latino male that occurred in a parking lot.

The coroner’s office has identified the man as Santiago Rivera.

Manner of Death: Accident

Cause of Death: Heroin Toxicity

RIP SANTIAGO RIVERA (November 21, 2002 – January 10, 2025)

Formal pronouncement of death was made on Friday at 7:58 a.m.

The decedent was in the custody of the Sheriff’s department. He had been arrested on the charge of murder in July 2022 with his bail set at 6 million dollars. He was partially sentenced at the time of his death.

Ruling by the deputy medical examiner was published on April 3, presumably after the results of tox screening had come back from the lab. This is considered an accidental, i.e., unintentional, drug overdose.

This was LASD’s first in-custody death for the year. He passed away in the transport compound of CSTB, Court Services Transportation Bureau.