On Thursday, September 9, 2010, infant David Robert Hunter Jr., a Black male under the age of one, was found dead in an apartment building in the Mid-City neighborhood of Los Angeles. First responders were called to a residential complex situated at 2020 South Corning Street, a quiet corridor located just north of Cadillac Avenue and east of South Robertson Boulevard. Emergency personnel found the baby unresponsive, and medical examiners later confirmed that the infant had died at the scene.
The Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner conducted a formal post-mortem examination into the death. Although the initial classification categorized the specific medical cause of death simply as "other," the coroner determined the manner of the infant's passing to be a homicide. Details surrounding the exact nature of the child's injuries and the physical evidence recovered from the apartment residence were withheld by authorities while the initial inquiry was opened.
Because the case involved a fatal incident concerning an infant, the investigation was immediately assigned to detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department's Juvenile Division, Abused Child Unit. Specialized investigators within this unit handle homicides and severe trauma involving infants and young children across the city. Detectives examined the apartment, interviewed individuals with access to the residence, and reviewed the child's circumstances, seeking to uncover who was responsible for the harm inflicted on the infant.
In 2010, the city of Los Angeles recorded almost three hundred homicides, marking an era where violence had declined from historical peaks, yet crimes against vulnerable infants remained among the most difficult and heartbreaking cases for law enforcement to investigate. The residential stretch along South Corning Street, lined with mid-century multi-family apartment buildings and close-knit neighbors, offered few clues that were made available to the public. No public press releases or community appeals identifying a specific perpetrator were released by authorities in the days that followed.
Years have passed since the infant lost his life, and no suspects have ever been publicly identified, formally arrested, or charged in connection with the homicide. David Robert Hunter Jr. had barely begun his life before it was tragically cut short. Detectives with the Los Angeles Police Department have long maintained open files on unsolved infant fatalities, urging anyone who lived near South Corning Street in September 2010 or who possesses knowledge of the circumstances surrounding this child's death to contact law enforcement or submit an anonymous tip through Crime Stoppers.
