Robert Edward Lee Williams Sr. was 37 years old when he died on Friday, June 6, 2003, in Vermont Square, a neighborhood in South Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after sustaining blunt force trauma near 858 W. 41st St. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles Police Department case assigned to its Robbery-Homicide Division.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report gave only the most basic facts. It described him as "a 37-year-old Black male" who "died Friday, June 6, after sustaining blunt force trauma near 858 W. 41st St. in Vermont Square, according to Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner's records."
Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Robert Edward Lee Williams Sr. 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. Robert Williams is one of the most common names in the United States, and searches for it turn up hundreds of other men, none of whom can be tied to the man who died in Vermont Square. The "Sr." in his name means that he had a son who carries the same name, but nothing more about his family has entered the public record.
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 says he was hurt "near" the 41st Street address rather than at it, which suggests that he may have been found outdoors, on a sidewalk or in the street, though it does not say so. The case was also listed under the LAPD's Robbery-Homicide Division, an elite downtown unit that usually takes on high-profile, complex or long-running investigations rather than ordinary neighborhood killings. The record does not explain why this case went there.
Vermont Square is a neighborhood of older homes and small apartment buildings in South Los Angeles, a short distance south of the University of Southern California and Exposition Park. It takes its name from Vermont Avenue, one of the main north-south streets of the city, and it is home to the Vermont Square branch library, one of the oldest branch libraries in Los Angeles.
Los Angeles still recorded roughly 480 to 520 homicides a year in the mid-2000s, and many of those killings were never solved.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Robert Edward Lee Williams Sr. could be found in news archives or public records. More than 22 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who lived near the 800 block of West 41st Street in Vermont Square in early June 2003, or who knew Robert Williams and saw him in the days before he died, 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 call the Los Angeles Police Department at 877-527-3247 or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
