Danny Ed Adams was 57 years old when he died on Wednesday, August 3, 2016, in Pomona. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after sustaining blunt force trauma at the rear of 120 San Lorenzo St. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Pomona Police Department case.
Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Danny Ed Adams 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. His name does appear on a list of Pomona homicide victims kept by a community Facebook page, Pomona, Let's Take Our Hometown Back, which recorded his age, the date of his death, the San Lorenzo Street location and the cause as blunt force trauma, but the list adds nothing about who he was. Danny Adams is a common name across the United States, and none of the many obituaries and records under that name could be tied to the man who died in Pomona.
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.
The location recorded by the coroner is the rear of a building on San Lorenzo Street, not the street itself, which suggests that he was found behind a home or business, perhaps in a yard, an alley or a parking area, though the record does not say which. It also does not say whether he lived at that address, knew the people who did or had simply stopped there. A death behind a building, out of view of the street, may have been seen by fewer people, but neighbors in the surrounding homes may still have heard something that night or noticed something out of place.
Pomona is a city at the eastern edge of Los Angeles County, known as the home of Cal Poly Pomona and of the Fairplex, where the Los Angeles County Fair is held each year. It is one of the larger cities in the San Gabriel and Pomona valleys, with older neighborhoods of single-family homes and apartment buildings.
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 Danny Ed Adams could be found in news archives or public records. More than nine years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who lived or worked near the 100 block of San Lorenzo Street in Pomona in early August 2016, or who knew Danny Adams, his family or his friends, may hold information that could help investigators. 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 Pomona Police Department, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
