Kevin Milton Hanson was 48 years old when he died on Saturday, October 8, 2005, in Hollywood Hills West. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after sustaining blunt force trauma at Fuller and Franklin avenues. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles Police Department case handled by the department's Hollywood Division.
The LAPD described what happened in a news release issued the same day. At 2:58 a.m. that Saturday, officers responded to a radio call of a fight at the intersection of Franklin Avenue and Fuller Avenue. When they arrived, they found "the victim of a severe beating lying against the curb." According to the department, Hanson had been sitting in a car at the location with a man and a woman, both described as white and in their mid-20s. "The man was seen severely beating the victim both inside and outside of the car," the release said. The man and woman then drove away, leaving him lying in the street. Their car was described as a small silver or grey sport utility vehicle.
He was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he died. The LAPD said he was the chief executive of a company called Vanguard Corporation International and had been staying temporarily at a nearby Hollywood hotel. That suggests he may not have lived in the area, and it leaves open how he came to be in a car with the two people police were looking for.
Beyond the release, almost nothing about him has been made public. No obituary or memorial page could be found, and his name is a common one, shared by many men across the country.
The corner of Franklin and Fuller sits at the base of the Hollywood Hills, just west of the busiest part of Hollywood, where Franklin Avenue runs along the foot of the hills past apartment buildings and older homes. A few blocks to the south and east are Hollywood Boulevard, the Walk of Fame and the nightclubs and bars that keep the area busy until closing time. Runyon Canyon Park, one of the city's most popular hiking spots, is nearby. At nearly 3 a.m. on a Saturday, the area would have had people heading home after a night out.
Los Angeles still recorded roughly 480 to 520 homicides a year in the mid-2000s, and many of those killings were never solved. A beating that witnesses saw, with a description of two suspects and their vehicle, is the kind of case where one person's memory can still make a difference.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Kevin Milton Hanson could be found in news archives or public records. More than 20 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who was near Franklin and Fuller avenues early on October 8, 2005, or who knows who a young man and woman in a small silver or grey SUV were with that night, may hold information that could help. The LAPD asked callers to reach Hollywood detectives at 213-972-2910. 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.
