Wilmer Jerrold Johnson

Wilmer Jerrold Johnson was 56 years old when he died on Monday, May 22, 2006, in South Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at 117th Street and Compton Avenue. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a case of the Los Angeles Police Department's Southeast Division.

The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report recorded his death in a single sentence drawn from coroner's records. It described him as "a 56-year-old black male" who "died Monday, May 22, after being stabbed in Willowbrook." The entry gave a street corner rather than a house number, which suggests he may have been attacked outdoors, on or near the street. Willowbrook is an unincorporated community normally served by the Sheriff's Department, yet the case was assigned to the LAPD's Southeast Division, which covers neighboring Watts. That suggests the corner may lie on or near the boundary between the two. No follow-up story appears to have been written.

Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Wilmer Jerrold Johnson 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. He surely had family, friends or neighbors who remember who he was, but none of that has entered the public record. Wilmer is an uncommon first name today, though Johnson is one of the most common surnames in the country, and searches turn up obituaries for several older men named Wilmer Johnson in Colorado, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Louisiana, none of whom can be tied to this death.

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

At 56, he was much older than most people killed in South Los Angeles that year. A man of his age may well have had grown children, a long work history and old friends in the area. None of that is reflected in the public record.

Compton Avenue is a long north-south street running through the heart of South Los Angeles. Around 117th Street it passes through neighborhoods of small single-family homes, apartment buildings and corner stores, close to Watts, which is known around the world for the Watts Towers and for the 1965 uprising. Its schools and churches have long anchored the neighborhood.

Los Angeles still recorded roughly 480 to 520 homicides a year in the mid-2000s, and many of those killings were never solved.

No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Wilmer Jerrold Johnson could be found in news archives or public records. More than 19 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who was near 117th Street and Compton Avenue in May 2006, or who knew a 56-year-old man named Wilmer Johnson from the area, may hold information that could help. 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 call the Los Angeles Police Department at 877-527-3247 (877-LAPD-24-7), or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477).