Boom Mi Park was 90 years old when she died on Monday, November 25, 2002, in Historic South-Central Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, she died after sustaining blunt force trauma at 4221 S. Main St. Her death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles Police Department case handled by the department's Newton Division.
She was an Asian woman of 90, one of the oldest people to appear in the Los Angeles Times Homicide Report. Beyond her name, her age and the place where she died, almost nothing about Boom Mi Park 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. She surely had family, friends or neighbors who remember who she was, but none of that has entered the public record. Searches for her name returned only pages about parks, trails and theaters that happen to share the words in it.
Because so little has been released, even the basic circumstances remain unknown to the public. The record does not say whether she 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 she was hurt, whether she died at the scene or later at a hospital, whether anyone saw what happened, or whether investigators ever identified a suspect. The record gives a street address on Main Street rather than an intersection, which may mean she was hurt at or near a home or building, but even that is not certain.
Her age alone makes the case stand out. A woman of 90 is rarely able to defend herself or flee, and an attack on someone so old usually draws attention from neighbors, caregivers or relatives who check on her. Whether she lived alone, lived with family or was visiting someone at that address has not been made public.
Historic South-Central is one of the oldest parts of Los Angeles outside downtown. Main Street runs south from the downtown core through blocks of older houses, apartment buildings, small shops, churches and light industry. For much of the 20th century the area was home to a large Black community, and by the early 2000s many of its residents were Latino immigrant families, alongside small business owners from many backgrounds.
Homicides in Los Angeles rose sharply in the early 2000s, climbing past 600 in 2002, and detectives carried heavy caseloads. Many killings from those years were never solved. The death of a 90-year-old woman on Main Street received only a brief entry in the coroner's records and the Homicide Report.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Boom Mi Park could be found in news archives or public records. More than 23 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who lived or worked near the 4200 block of South Main Street in November 2002, or who knew her, 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.
