A volunteer places a candle on a table to represent one of the 511 homeless persons that died in in Orange County in 2023 during the Homeless Persons’ Inter-Religious Memorial Service at St. Timothy’s Catholic Church in Laguna Niguel on Thursday, Dec. 21, 2023. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
On the longest, darkest night of the year — the winter solstice, Dec. 21 — we count our dead.
Amid flickering candles and somber speeches, ceremonies commemorate the lives of homeless people who have died on America’s streets. Here in Orange County, these deaths plunged a stunning 40% from their high a few years ago.
That drop is largely due to Narcan, observers said. The drug can reverse opioid overdoses and essentially bring people back from the dead, and is now available over-the-counter.
Still, drugs and alcohol remain responsible for the largest chunk of deaths among homeless people, even though a great many toxicology reports are still outstanding.
Jose Luis Lozano was the oldest person to die. It was May 12, on a Santa Ana sidewalk. The cause: chronic ischemic heart disease. He was 82.
2025 homeless deaths, by city (Source: Orange County Coroner)
The youngest was Roberto Enzo DiMarco, who took his last breaths on Oct. 30 at someone’s home in Laguna Hills. Toxicology report pending. He was 22.
Homeless deaths hit a disturbing high here in 2023, when 511 people passed with “no fixed abode,” according to data from the county coroner.
So far in 2025, about 300 have died with “no fixed abode” (final numbers won’t be out for a few weeks).
They were our neighbors, our brothers and sisters, people deserving of dignity and respect, said Gina Marie Seriel, executive director of Our Father’s Table.
“Let us stand as witnesses and advocates for our brothers and sisters experiencing homelessness — those whom society has rendered invisible through indifference,” she said in a statement.
The name of each person who died will be read aloud at the annual Homeless Remembrance Inter-religious Memorial Service at the Catholic Diocese of Orange’s Arboretum building on the Christ Cathedral campus, beginning with a procession at 6:45 p.m., on Sunday, Dec. 21.
“Notably, for some, the service’s simple reciting of their name by a caring soul will be the only time their entire life is memorialized in this way,” said the Most Rev. Timothy Freyer, auxiliary bishop in the Diocese of Orange, in a statement.
“There will be no funeral and no burial. So it is with great humility and respect, not only for the dead but for our interfaith partners who graciously participate alongside us, that we continue sponsoring this service for a tenth year.”
Tragedy, desperation
They died in riverbeds, alleys and underpasses. Motels, bus stops and drainage ditches. Dumpsters, cars and public restrooms.
So many of their endings were not peaceful.
A man is questioned during the Orange County Point in Time Count in Jan., 2024. The federally mandated biennial census of homeless people, showed an increase in Orange County’s homeless population –28% – from the 2022 survey. The majority lived on the streets…(Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Twenty-nine people died after being hit by cars.
Four people hung themselves. One with a dog leash, one with a bed sheet, one with a drawstring, one with a rope and strap.
One committed suicide by placing a plastic bag over his head and inhaling nitrogen gas from a tank. Another killed himself with a gun. Three died in falls or jumps.
One was stabbed. One drowned. And 88 deaths have been confirmed tied to drugs and/or alcohol.
About 165 cases are still outstanding.
They died all over the county. Northern cities saw the highest number of deaths — 55 in Anaheim, 52 in Santa Ana, 42 in Orange — but homeless people died in nearly every city.
Some were young. Many were older.
Twenty-six people were age 70 or more.
Another 133 were between 50 and 69.
There were 129 between age 30 and 49.
A man who only wanted to be identified as Damian, and his dog, Fish, are awoken at the Huntington Beach Pier Plaza Amphitheater during the early morning point in time count of homeless people on Tuesday, February 22, 2022. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
And 10 were 29 or younger.
Since 1990, the National Coalition for the Homeless has sponsored National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day every year on December 21st, the first day of winter and longest night of the year. The idea is to bring attention to this tragedy and to remember those who have died while living without a place to call home.
This year’s service will be live-streamed on the Diocese YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/@DioceseOrange
We’re grateful, Bishop Freyer said, that fewer died on the streets in 2025 than in previous years.
“We are also reminded at this time of year that we have to do more for our brothers and sisters in need,” he said. “May this reminder, through the grace of God and goodwill of so many here in our county, propel our efforts in 2026.”