Carl Johnson III was 58 years old when he died on Thursday, August 23, 2007, at 10:20 a.m. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, his death was caused by blunt force trauma from an attack near the intersection of Avalon Boulevard and East 120th Street, in the Green Meadows area of South Los Angeles. His death was ruled a homicide. The Homicide Report listed no investigating agency for the case.
What makes his case unusual is how long ago the attack took place. According to the Los Angeles Times Homicide Report, which cited coroner's records, Johnson "was hit on the head with a tire iron 30 years ago near the intersection of 120th and Avalon" Boulevard, "in what is now LAPD's Southeast Division, and only died from his injuries last month." That would place the assault in about 1977, when he was in his late 20s.
A death decades after an injury can still be ruled a homicide when a medical examiner finds that the original injury led to the death. The record does not say what kind of life he led in the years between, whether he was disabled by the blow, whether he lived at home or in a care facility, or what finally caused his health to fail. It also does not say who swung the tire iron, why, or whether anyone was ever arrested for the assault at the time. Any police reports from the late 1970s would long ago have been filed away, and the people who saw what happened may have moved, aged or died.
Beyond those facts, almost nothing about Carl Johnson III has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for this story. His name is a common one, shared by many other men and even by the main character of a popular video game set in a fictional version of Los Angeles, and searches turned up nothing more about him. The "III" after his name suggests that he was named for his father and grandfather, which may mean his family has deep roots.
Green Meadows is a residential neighborhood in South Los Angeles, made up largely of single-family homes on flat grid streets. Avalon Boulevard is one of the main north-south streets through the area, lined with small shops and homes. In the late 1970s, as now, it was a working-class community where many families had lived for years.
Hundreds of people are killed in Los Angeles County every year, and a large share of those killings end without an arrest. A case like this one, where the attack happened a generation before the death, is among the hardest of all to solve.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Carl Johnson III could be found in news archives or public records. More than 18 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who remembers an attack with a tire iron near 120th Street and Avalon Boulevard in the 1970s, or who knew Carl in the years after, may hold information that could help. 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.
