Tanya Settles was 44 years old when she died on Wednesday, January 3, 2007, in Long Beach. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, she died after sustaining blunt force trauma at 1883 Pine Avenue. Her death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Long Beach Police Department case.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report described her as a black woman of 44. Its database entry gave only the address and date, but an earlier roundup posted on the Homicide Report blog in January 2007 gave a different and fuller account. That roundup said that Tasha Brown, "a 39-year-old black woman, was shot multiple times at 1883 Pine Ave. in Long Beach and died 11:16 p.m. Jan. 3." It went on: "Tanya Settles, a 44-year-old black woman, was shot once at the same location as Tasha Brown, and died at the same time."
The two accounts do not agree on how she died. The database lists the cause as blunt force, while the blog roundup describes a gunshot. The record does not explain the difference, and it is possible that one of the two entries contains an error. What both agree on is that she died at 1883 Pine Avenue on the night of January 3, 2007, and the blog account indicates that two women were killed at that address at the same time.
That makes her death part of a double homicide, one of the most serious kinds of case a police department can face. The roundup did not say whether the two women knew each other, whether they lived at the address, what led to the violence, or whether anyone else was hurt. It did not mention a suspect, an arrest or a motive.
Beyond these few lines, almost nothing about Tanya Settles has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for this story. Her name is shared by several women around the country, including an academic and public policy consultant, none of whom has any connection to her death.
Long Beach is the second-largest city in Los Angeles County, a port city of more than 450,000 people on San Pedro Bay. Pine Avenue is one of its best-known streets, running north from the downtown waterfront through a long stretch of central Long Beach lined with apartment buildings, small businesses, churches and older homes. The city has its own police department, whose Homicide Detail investigates killings within the city limits.
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 Tanya Settles 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 lived on or near the 1800 block of Pine Avenue in January 2007, who heard gunshots or other trouble late on the night of January 3, or who knew Tanya Settles or Tasha Brown, 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. Anyone with information can contact the Long Beach Police Department's Homicide Detail at 562-570-7244, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
