Kevin Jan Snowden was 34 years old when he died on Thursday, May 28, 2020, in Encino, in the southern San Fernando Valley. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after sustaining blunt force trauma near the intersection of Ventura Boulevard and Encino Avenue. His death was ruled a homicide, and the case was assigned to the Los Angeles Police Department's Valley Bureau Homicide detectives.
He was a Black man in his mid-30s. Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Kevin Jan Snowden 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.
Because so little has been released, even the basic circumstances remain unknown to the public. The record does not say whether he was beaten in a fight, attacked by a stranger, assaulted indoors or on the street, or struck by a vehicle, all of which can lead to a finding of blunt force trauma. 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. Because the record places his death at an intersection on one of the Valley's busiest boulevards, it is possible he was struck by a vehicle, attacked on the sidewalk, or found there after being hurt somewhere else, but nothing published says which.
Ventura Boulevard is the main commercial street of the southern San Fernando Valley, running for miles past restaurants, shops, offices and medical buildings. In Encino, it is lined with upscale businesses, and the neighborhoods that climb into the Santa Monica Mountains to the south are among the most expensive in Los Angeles. Encino Avenue crosses Ventura Boulevard in the heart of that business district. At the end of May 2020, the boulevard was quieter than usual, with many businesses still closed under pandemic orders, and a man on the street at night would have been noticed by few people.
Homicides rose sharply across Los Angeles County in 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, after years of relatively low numbers, and detectives were stretched across a growing caseload. Many of those killings were shootings that drew at least brief coverage on local television. The death of a 34-year-old Black man on Ventura Boulevard came three days after George Floyd was killed by police in Minneapolis, as protests began to spread across the country. It does not appear to have drawn any news coverage of its own.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Kevin Jan Snowden could be found in news archives or public records. More than six years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who was near Ventura Boulevard and Encino Avenue on May 28, 2020, or who knew him, may hold information that could help. Businesses in the area may also have had cameras running that night. 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 or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
