James Hurst was 59 years old when he died on Sunday, July 6, 2008, a day after he was attacked during a robbery in a county park in South Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after sustaining blunt force trauma near Century Boulevard and Success Avenue. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a case of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report said Hurst, "a black man, died at St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood about 4:30 p.m. Sunday, July 6." He "was admitted to the hospital a day before after he was attacked by three black men during a robbery." According to the Sheriff's Department, the report said, he "was assaulted at Ted Watkins County Park, near Century Boulevard and Success Avenue in Watts." The Homicide Report's data listing gives his age as 60, while the text gives it as 59.
The account offers more detail than many entries, but it leaves important questions open. It does not say what was taken from him, whether he was beaten with fists or with an object, or whether anyone else in the park saw the attack. It does not describe the three men beyond their race, and it does not say whether any of them were ever identified. Because the attack happened on a Saturday in early July, in a public park, it is possible that other people were nearby.
Beyond his name, his age and the circumstances of his death, almost nothing about James Hurst 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 Broadway and television singer, an English footballer and men whose obituaries were published in other states. None of those pages concerns the man who died in Lynwood. He surely had family, friends or neighbors who remember who he was, but none of that has entered the public record.
Ted Watkins Memorial Park is a county park in the unincorporated area near Watts, named for Ted Watkins, a longtime Watts community leader. The surrounding neighborhoods are made up largely of modest single-family homes and apartment buildings. The area falls under the Sheriff's Department, while the nearby city neighborhoods are patrolled by the LAPD. The Homicide Report lists the location in Florence-Firestone, the large unincorporated community that borders it.
Hundreds of people are killed in Los Angeles County every year, and a large share of those killings end without an arrest. The robbery and beating of a 59-year-old man in a public park drew only a few lines in the Homicide Report.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of James Hurst 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 or near Ted Watkins Park on Saturday, July 5, 2008, or who knew James Hurst in Watts or Florence-Firestone, may hold information that could help investigators identify the three men. 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.
