Russell Edwin Steward was 44 years old when he died on Friday, Oct. 15, 2004. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after sustaining blunt force trauma at 10555 Mills Ave. His death was ruled a homicide. The Los Angeles Times record does not name the city, and it lists the investigating agency only by the abbreviation "MONTC."
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report recorded his death in a single sentence drawn from coroner's records. It gave his age, listed him as a Black man, gave the street address and noted the cause of death. It did not say how he was hurt, who found him, whether the address was a home or a business, or whether investigators had identified anyone responsible. No follow-up story appears to have been published.
Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Russell Edwin Steward 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. Searches for his name turned up a film editor who worked on documentaries in the 1980s, a man injured in a fall who was the subject of a recent fundraiser, and several men whose obituaries were published in other states. None of them had any connection to the man who died in 2004.
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.
The record leaves an unusual gap. Most entries in the Homicide Report name a neighborhood or city, but his gives only the street number and the agency code. The code does not match the one the Times used for Montebello police cases, and the record does not explain which department it stands for. That means even the basic question of which police agency holds his file is not answered in the public record.
Without a city, it is not possible to say with confidence which Mills Avenue is meant. What can be said is that the Los Angeles County coroner handled his death, which suggests that he died in Los Angeles County or was taken to a hospital there.
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 Russell Edwin Steward could be found in news archives or public records. More than 21 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who knew a 44-year-old man named Russell Edwin Steward, or who was near 10555 Mills Ave. in October 2004, 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 contact the police department that serves the area of 10555 Mills Ave., or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
