King Jayden Johnson was 2 years old when he died on Thursday, January 17, 2013, in Lancaster, a city in the Antelope Valley in the northern part of Los Angeles County. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after sustaining blunt force trauma at 45659 Saint Andrews St. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau case.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report listed him as a black boy. Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about King Jayden Johnson has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be verified as his, and no news outlet appears to have reported on his death. He surely had family who loved him and remember him, but none of that has entered the public record. Searches for his name turn up only adults and other children named King Johnson with no known connection to Lancaster.
Because so little has been released, even the basic circumstances remain unknown to the public. The record does not say where in the home or neighborhood he was hurt, who was caring for him at the time, whether he died at the scene or later at a hospital, or whether investigators ever identified a suspect. When a child this young dies of blunt force trauma and the death is ruled a homicide, detectives typically look closely at the people around the child, but nothing about the direction of this investigation has been made public.
The coroner's record gives a specific street address rather than an intersection, which suggests that he was hurt at or near a particular home on Saint Andrews Street. That is an inference only. The record does not say whether he lived at that address.
Lancaster is the largest city in the Antelope Valley, in the high desert of the Mojave north of the San Gabriel Mountains. Over the past several decades it grew rapidly as families moved there for more affordable housing, and many residents commute long distances to jobs in the Los Angeles basin. Much of the city is made up of tract-home neighborhoods with quiet residential streets. Lancaster contracts with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department for police services, which is why the sheriff's homicide detectives took the case. Neighbors, relatives or family friends who were around Saint Andrews Street in mid-January 2013 may know something about what happened in the days before King Jayden Johnson died.
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 King Jayden Johnson could be found in news archives or public records. More than 12 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who was near the 45600 block of Saint Andrews Street in Lancaster in January 2013, or who knew King Jayden Johnson and his household, 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.
