Donald Eugene Miles was 48 years old when he died on Friday, March 30, 2012, in Santa Monica. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after sustaining blunt force trauma at 2001 Pico Blvd. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Santa Monica Police Department case.
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 Donald Eugene Miles 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. Donald Miles is a common name, and searches for it turned up only other men, in obituaries from Missouri, New York, Texas and other states, none of them the man who died in Santa Monica.
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 coroner's record gives a specific street address on Pico Boulevard rather than an intersection, which suggests the death was connected to a particular property along that street. That is an inference only. The record does not say whether the address was a home, a business or a public space, or whether Donald Eugene Miles lived or worked nearby.
Santa Monica is a coastal city of about 90,000 people bordered on three sides by the city of Los Angeles. It is known for its pier, its beaches and the Third Street Promenade, but away from the shoreline much of the city is made up of apartment buildings, small businesses and quiet residential blocks. Pico Boulevard runs east from the ocean through the southern part of the city and is also home to the main campus of Santa Monica College. The street carries steady traffic by car, bus and bicycle, and people passing along it in late March 2012 may have noticed something without realizing that it mattered.
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 Donald Eugene Miles could be found in news archives or public records. More than 13 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who was near the 2000 block of Pico Boulevard in Santa Monica in late March 2012, or who knew Donald Eugene Miles and saw him in the days before he died, 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 Santa Monica Police Department, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
