Robert Green was 54 years old when he died at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, July 11, 2007, three days after he was attacked on Crenshaw Boulevard in the Hyde Park neighborhood of South Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after sustaining blunt force trauma near Crenshaw Boulevard and West 59th Street. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles Police Department 77th Street Division case.
According to the Los Angeles Times Homicide Report, Robert, a Black man, was beaten by three men in a crosswalk in the 5900 block of South Crenshaw Boulevard at 12:45 p.m. on Sunday, July 8. "They kicked and beat Green, then sped off," the Times reported. He was taken to California Hospital Medical Center, where he died three days later.
The Times gave an unusually detailed description of the attackers. The suspects, "also black and described as in their 20s or 30s, pulled up in a white Chevrolet with a license plate containing the sequence 2L." The report added that "one of them was quite heavy, perhaps 300 pounds." Police did not say publicly what led to the attack, whether Robert knew the men, or whether the beating was connected to a robbery or an argument. No suspect was ever named in the published record.
The circumstances stand out. The attack happened in the middle of a Sunday afternoon, in a crosswalk on one of the busiest streets in South Los Angeles. Drivers waiting at the light, people on the sidewalks and customers in nearby businesses may all have seen part of what happened, and some may have noticed the white Chevrolet as it drove away.
Beyond the attack itself, almost nothing about Robert Green has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for this story. His name is a very common one, and searches turned up only other men who share it, among them businessmen, writers and defendants in unrelated cases.
Hyde Park is a neighborhood in South Los Angeles along Crenshaw Boulevard, south of Leimert Park. For decades it has been home to many Black families, with tree-lined residential streets set back from the busy commercial corridor. Crenshaw Boulevard itself is a major north-south artery, lined with shops, churches, restaurants and bus stops, and is a center of community life in South Los Angeles.
Homicides in Los Angeles fell steeply in the late 2000s and early 2010s, yet many killings from those years were never solved. An attack by three men in broad daylight, with a partial license plate and a vehicle description, is the kind of case where a single tip can make a difference.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Robert Green 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 was on Crenshaw Boulevard near 59th Street on the afternoon of July 8, 2007, or who knows of a white Chevrolet with "2L" in its plate seen in the area at that time, may hold information that could help. The Times asked that tips go to 213-485-1383. 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.
