Matthew Charles Held was 47 years old when he died on Monday, December 15, 2014, in Carson. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after sustaining blunt force trauma at Carson Street and Avalon Boulevard. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department case handled by the department's Homicide Bureau.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report listed him as a white man. Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Matthew Charles Held 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 full name is not especially common, but searches for Matthew Held turn up other men in Missouri, Ohio and New York, among them a veteran, a construction company owner and a father who died of an illness, none of whom can be tied to the man who died in Carson.
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 for his death is an intersection rather than a street address, which suggests that he may have been hurt or found outdoors, on or near the street, rather than inside a home, though the record does not say so.
Carson is a city in the South Bay area of Los Angeles County, south of Los Angeles and north of Long Beach. It is home to California State University, Dominguez Hills, and to the stadium complex long used by professional soccer teams, and it mixes residential neighborhoods with industrial land, refineries and busy commercial corridors. Carson Street and Avalon Boulevard are two of the city's main thoroughfares, lined with shops, offices and traffic at most hours.
Hundreds of people are killed in Los Angeles County every year, and a large share of those killings end without an arrest. The death of Matthew Charles Held does not appear to have drawn any news coverage at all, which means no description of a suspect, a vehicle or a motive has ever been shared with the public.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Matthew Charles Held could be found in news archives or public records. More than 11 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who was near Carson Street and Avalon Boulevard in Carson in mid-December 2014, or who knew Matthew Charles Held and where he spent his days, 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 Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
