Max Henry Ware Jr. was 50 years old when he died on Tuesday, August 22, 2006, in the Jefferson Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after sustaining blunt force trauma at 2511 1/2 W. Jefferson Blvd. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles Police Department Southwest Division case.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report recorded his death in a single sentence drawn from coroner's records. It described him as a Black man, gave his age, and placed his death in Jefferson Park. It did not say how he was hurt, who found him, or whether detectives had any idea who was responsible.
Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Max Henry Ware Jr. 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. He surely had family, friends or neighbors who remember who he was, but none of that has entered the public record. His name is not a common one, but searches turned up mostly obituaries of other men named Max Ware, in Utah, Ohio, Missouri and elsewhere, none of them connected to his death. The "Jr." in his name means he shared it with his father, but nothing published says who his father was or whether his family still lives in Southern California.
Because so little has been released, even the basic circumstances remain unknown to the public. The record does not say whether he 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 he was hurt, whether he died at the scene or later at a hospital, whether anyone saw what happened, or whether investigators ever identified a suspect.
Jefferson Park is a historic neighborhood in the West Adams area of South Los Angeles. Many of its streets are lined with Craftsman bungalows and other homes built in the early 20th century, and it has long been home to Black families as well as a growing number of Latino households. Jefferson Boulevard, one of its main commercial streets, carries a mix of small shops, churches, auto businesses and apartment buildings.
Los Angeles still recorded roughly 480 to 520 homicides a year in the mid-2000s, and many of those killings were never solved. A death recorded only in a coroner's list, without a press release or a news story, can slip from public memory within weeks.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Max Henry Ware Jr. could be found in news archives or public records. More than 19 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who lived, worked or spent time near the 2500 block of West Jefferson Boulevard in August 2006, or who knew a 50-year-old man named Max Ware, may hold information that could help detectives. Even knowing who he was, where he lived or who his relatives were could give investigators a place to start. 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.
