David Thomas was 61 years old when he died on Sunday, April 11, 2021, in Hyde Park, a neighborhood in South Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after sustaining blunt force trauma near 5930 7th Avenue. His death was ruled a homicide, and the case was assigned to the Los Angeles Police Department's South Bureau Homicide detectives.
To thousands of people on Skid Row, he was Chef David. Thomas had come up from the streets of Skid Row himself and went on to lead the kitchen at the Los Angeles Mission, one of the largest shelters and meal providers downtown. He joined the Mission's team on June 2, 2000, and over the next two decades became its food service director. At his memorial, celebrity chef Michael Voltaggio, who had cooked alongside him, estimated that Thomas had been responsible for about 12 million meals served to the Mission's guests. In November 2020, in the middle of the pandemic, Thomas and his kitchen staff prepared thousands of pounds of food for the Mission's Thanksgiving meals.
The day after he died, the Mission announced that he had been killed. Troy Vaughn, the Mission's president and chief executive, called him a valued member of the team and asked people to keep his family in their prayers. The statement described him as an indefatigable spirit, a fun-loving and caring soul, and a mentor, and recalled how he would lead a prayer circle and shout out "Hallelujah" as only he could. It said no details of his death were available and that it had happened away from Skid Row and the Mission's property.
A memorial service was held on April 30, 2021, in the Holsinger Chapel at the Los Angeles Mission. Because of COVID-19 rules, only about 70 people were allowed to attend. A Los Angeles Times photograph from that day shows a friend, Terri Taylor, raising her hands toward a projected image of Thomas as she spoke about him.
Despite how well known he was, the circumstances of his death have never been made public. No news report explained how he came to be on 7th Avenue in Hyde Park that Sunday, whether he was attacked by someone he knew or by a stranger, whether a weapon was used, or whether anyone saw what happened. The Medical Examiner's record says only that he died from blunt force trauma at that address.
Hyde Park is a largely residential neighborhood of single-family homes and small apartment buildings west of the 110 Freeway, near Crenshaw Boulevard and Slauson Avenue. The city of Los Angeles recorded 397 homicides in 2021, the most since 2006, according to the Los Angeles Times. Most drew little attention, but the death of a man who had fed so many people stood out to those who knew him.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of David Thomas could be found in news archives or public records. More than four years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Someone in Hyde Park may know what happened near 5930 7th Avenue on April 11, 2021. Anyone with information can call the Los Angeles Police Department at 877-527-3247 or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
