Li Li was 38 years old when she died on Sunday, April 27, 2008, in South Pasadena. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, she died after sustaining blunt force trauma at 1605 Huntington Drive in South Pasadena. Her death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department case.
Beyond her name, her age and the place where she died, almost nothing about Li Li 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.
Because so little has been released, even the basic circumstances remain unknown to the public. The record does not say whether she 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 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 name makes the search for answers harder still. Li is one of the most common surnames in the world, and a search for "Li Li" returns thousands of unrelated people, from real estate agents to scientists to people named in court cases on other continents. None of the records found for this story could be tied to the woman who died in South Pasadena in April 2008, and it is possible that she was known to friends and family by another first name or a different spelling.
South Pasadena is a small, mostly residential city that sits between Pasadena and the northeastern neighborhoods of Los Angeles. It is known for its tree-lined streets, its older Craftsman and Victorian homes, its small downtown along Mission Street and its stop on the Metro rail line that runs between downtown Los Angeles and Pasadena. Huntington Drive is a busy boulevard that crosses the southern part of the city and carries traffic between Los Angeles and the cities of the western San Gabriel Valley.
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 Li Li 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. The case file may still hold names, statements or physical evidence that have never been made public.
Someone who lived, worked or spent time near Huntington Drive in South Pasadena in April 2008 may remember a disturbance, a stranger, a vehicle or a conversation that seemed unimportant at the time. A relative, coworker or friend of Li Li may know who she was spending time with in the days before she died. 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.
