Pepper Roxanne Gardner was 56 years old when she was pronounced dead on Saturday, January 13, 2018, at her home in the 1100 block of West Avenue N12 in northwest Palmdale. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, she died after sustaining blunt force trauma. Her death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau case.
She was one of three people found dead in the same house that day. According to the Los Angeles Times, deputies went to the Gardners' "modest Palmdale home" at about 2:25 p.m. after a relative asked them to check on the family. The relative, the daughter of Pepper Gardner's husband, was worried because she had not been able to reach anyone at the house, said sheriff's Lt. John Corina. Pepper Gardner lived there with her husband, Richard Gardner II, 78, and his son, Richard Gardner III, 52, who had a disability.
When deputies arrived, they found the elder Richard Gardner dead in the small, single-level house, Corina said. A short while later, investigators found Pepper Gardner and her stepson dead in another part of the house.
All three had suffered "trauma to their bodies" that did not involve gunfire, Corina said, but he would not give more details about how they died or where their bodies were found. Investigators placed a security hold on the autopsy results until the investigation was completed, which meant the cause of death could not be made public at the time. The coroner's office later listed her cause of death as blunt force trauma.
Corina said that Pepper Gardner and her husband did not work outside the home. Her stepson had suffered head trauma when he was younger, leaving him with a slight mental disability, "but the son did work," Corina said. He did odd jobs in town and washed windows for businesses.
Beyond those details, little about Pepper Gardner's life has been made public. No obituary or memorial page for her could be found.
Palmdale is one of the two largest cities in the Antelope Valley, the high desert region of northern Los Angeles County beyond the San Gabriel Mountains. Much of the city is made up of tract homes built for commuters. Palmdale contracts with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department for police services, so the killings were investigated by the department's Homicide Bureau.
The public record does not say whether investigators believed the three were killed by someone they knew, whether anything was taken from the house, or whether a suspect was ever identified. Hundreds of people are killed in Los Angeles County every year, and a large share of those killings end without an arrest.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Pepper Roxanne Gardner could be found in news archives or public records. More than seven years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who knew the Gardner family, who visited the house, or who saw a person or vehicle near the 1100 block of West Avenue N12 in the days before January 13, 2018, may hold information that could help detectives. 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 contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
