Soon Yai Cho was 95 years old when she died on Wednesday, December 22, 2010, in Westlake, just west of downtown Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, she died after sustaining blunt force trauma at 1221 7th St. Her death was ruled a homicide. The Los Angeles Times record does not name an investigating agency, but Westlake lies within the city of Los Angeles, where homicides are handled by the Los Angeles Police Department.
She was an Asian woman in her mid-90s. Beyond her name, her age and the place where she died, almost nothing about Soon Yai Cho 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. She surely had family, friends or neighbors who remember who she was, but none of that has entered the public record. Cho is a common surname, and searches for her name turned up only other people, among them public figures in South Korea and women with similar names remembered in obituaries in Maryland, Virginia, Illinois and Washington. None of them is the woman who died in Westlake.
Because so little has been released, even the basic circumstances of her death remain unknown to the public. The record does not say whether she was attacked during a robbery or a break-in, hurt by someone she knew or cared for her, injured in a fall that was later tied to an assault, 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 she was hurt, whether she died at the scene or later at a hospital, whether anyone saw what happened, or whether investigators ever identified a suspect.
Her age makes her death especially hard to read. A woman of 95 is often frail, and injuries that a younger person might survive can prove fatal. That may help explain why the coroner ruled her death a homicide, but it does not tell the public who was responsible or how she was hurt.
The coroner listed a street address rather than an intersection, which suggests she may have been found at or near a residence or other building on 7th Street, but the record does not say whether she lived there.
Westlake is one of the most densely populated neighborhoods in Los Angeles. Its center is MacArthur Park, the historic park and lake that gave the district its name, and its streets are lined with older apartment buildings, small shops, street vendors and bus stops. Seventh Street runs through the neighborhood toward downtown, and Koreatown lies just to the west. Many working families, immigrants and older residents live in the apartment buildings that fill its blocks.
Homicides in Los Angeles fell steeply in the late 2000s and early 2010s, yet many killings from those years were never solved.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Soon Yai Cho could be found in news archives or public records. More than 15 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who lived near 7th Street in Westlake in December 2010, who knew an elderly woman named Soon Yai Cho, or who helped care for her 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 call the Los Angeles Police Department at 877-527-3247 or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
