Louis Matthews was 55 years old when he died on Thursday, Aug. 7, 2008, in Inglewood. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after sustaining blunt force trauma at 418 North La Brea Avenue. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as an Inglewood Police Department case.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report said Matthews, "a black man," died "from blunt force trauma he during a fight in the 400 block of N. La Brea Avenue in Inglewood." The coroner's office "listed his time of death as 10:14 p.m. that day." The report noted that "the homicide was only reported by the coroner's office," meaning that the police department had not announced it, and it asked anyone with information to call the Inglewood police homicide squad.
The mention of a fight suggests that Matthews was hurt in a confrontation with at least one other person, and that the person or people involved may have been known to witnesses or to investigators. But the report did not say who he fought with, what the fight was about, whether a weapon was used, or whether he died at the scene or later at a hospital. It did not say whether anyone was ever identified as a suspect.
Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Louis Matthews has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for this story, and no other news outlet appears to have reported on the death. Searches for his name turned up only namesakes, among them a Las Vegas man convicted in a federal drug case, a man charged with murder in Belize and men whose obituaries were published in other states. None of those pages concerns the man who died in Inglewood. He surely had family, friends or neighbors who remember who he was, but none of that has entered the public record.
Inglewood is a city of about 100,000 people in the southwestern part of Los Angeles County, a short distance east of Los Angeles International Airport. For decades it was best known as the home of the Forum, where the Lakers once played, and in more recent years it has become the site of SoFi Stadium and the Intuit Dome. La Brea Avenue is one of its main north-south streets, lined with apartment buildings, shops and small businesses as it runs toward the city's downtown.
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 a 55-year-old man after a fight on one of Inglewood's main streets was recorded in a single paragraph in the Homicide Report.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Louis Matthews could be found in news archives or public records. More than 17 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who was in the 400 block of North La Brea Avenue on the evening of Aug. 7, 2008, who saw the fight or who knew Louis Matthews, 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. In 2008 the Times asked anyone with information to call the Inglewood police homicide squad at 412-5246. Anyone with information can contact the Inglewood Police Department, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
