El Monte man’s death remains under investigation

EL MONTE — An El Monte man arrived at a hospital late last month reporting was feeling ill and had been involved in a fight five days prior, officials said. Six days later he was pronounced dead, and the death remains under investigation.
Juan Rocha, 24, died Nov. 4 at the Methodist Hospital in Arcadia, Los Angeles County Department of Coroner’s Chief of Operations Craig Harvey said.
He had shown up at Greater El Monte Community Hospital Oct. 29 with complaints that he “just wasn’t feeling good overall,” Lt. Holly Francisco of the Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau said.
He told officials that he had been involved in a fight with another man on Oct. 24 at a bus stop in the 2600 block of Peck Road in El Monte, however he also suffered from several serious medical conditions, the lieutenant said. She declined to elaborate on the man’s medical history.
Homicide investigators said the investigation thus far leads them to suspect a natural death, however coroner’s officials said his officials cause of death remained under investigation.
An autopsy was carried out on Rocha’s body Sunday, however a cause of death was deferred pending additional testing, Harvey said.
The death was initially reported to coroner’s officials as a possible natural death or homicide, he said, adding that there were “injuries consistent with an altercation.”
Hospital doctors reported that Rocha’s body showed signs of a subdermal hematoma, indicating he had suffered a blow to his head, Harvey added.
“We’ve not ruled out homicide,” he said.
The continued medical investigation into Rocha’s cause of death may include a study of his brain.

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