Julie Ann Souza, a 53-year-old woman, was found unresponsive under a blanket in the 200 block of East Olympic Boulevard in downtown Los Angeles on December 12, 2010. According to coroner's records and police, she had been strangled, sexually assaulted and beaten; she was pronounced dead at 12:05 p.m. A security guard discovered her body in the area near the Fashion District, where Souza was known to frequent.
Souza was described in official records as a transient who often spent time around Santee Alley and the fashion-district corridor. The Los Angeles Police Department's Robbery-Homicide Division took the lead on the investigation and identified the case as a homicide involving sexual assault. Initial public accounts note the case drew attention because of Souza's vulnerability as a homeless woman and the violent nature of the attack.
Investigators followed DNA leads during the probe; at one point DNA evidence indicated a possible match to a man named Anthony Bryce Jones, but police did not arrest him and he remained a person of interest. In August 2013 authorities and community partners announced a $50,000 reward in hopes of generating tips that might lead to an arrest and conviction. LAPD detectives Steven Eguchi and Greg Stearns were listed as the investigators handling tips, and Crime Stoppers was provided as an anonymous tip option.
The case remains unsolved in the public record: no arrest or charge has been reported in connection with Souza's death. Anyone with information was asked by LAPD to contact the Robbery-Homicide Division detectives named in media reports or call Crime Stoppers.
