Monica Michelle Moore

Monica Michelle Moore was 33 years old when she died on Tuesday, June 18, 2013, in Willowbrook, an unincorporated community in South Los Angeles County. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, she died of stab wounds at 1936 E. El Segundo Blvd. Her death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department case.

The coroner's record describes her as a Black woman. The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report entry says only that she "died Tuesday, June 18, after being stabbed in Willowbrook." Beyond her name, her age and the place where she died, almost nothing about Monica Michelle Moore has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for this story, and no news outlet appears to have reported on the death. She surely had family, friends or neighbors who remember who she was, but none of that has entered the public record. Her first and last names are both common, and searches turned up many other women named Monica Moore, among them women whose obituaries were published in Ohio, North Carolina, Indiana and elsewhere, none of whom is the woman who died in Willowbrook.

Because so little has been released, even the basic circumstances remain unknown to the public. The record does not say whether she was stabbed during a fight or a robbery, attacked by a stranger or by someone she knew, or hurt indoors or on the street. It does not say what time of day she was hurt, whether she died at the scene or later at a hospital, whether anyone saw what happened, or whether investigators ever identified a suspect.

The address in the coroner's record is on El Segundo Boulevard, one of the main east-west streets of the area. A street address, rather than a description of an intersection, suggests she may have been found at or near a particular property, although the record does not say whether that was a home, a business or the sidewalk outside.

Willowbrook lies between the city of Los Angeles neighborhood of Watts and the city of Compton. It is a largely residential area of modest single-family homes and small apartment buildings, with churches, small businesses and auto shops along its larger streets. The community is home to the Martin Luther King Jr. medical campus and Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, and the Willowbrook/Rosa Parks station, where two Metro rail lines meet, sits near the 105 Freeway.

Hundreds of people are killed in Los Angeles County every year, and a large share of those killings end without an arrest.

No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Monica Michelle Moore could be found in news archives or public records. More than 12 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who lived, worked or spent time near the 1900 block of East El Segundo Boulevard in June 2013, who knew Monica and the people she spent time with, or who heard talk afterward about what happened to her, may hold information that could help detectives. Even a small detail, such as a name overheard, a vehicle seen nearby or a conversation remembered, can help detectives move a case forward. Anyone with information can contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.