Alicia Kalah White was an infant, less than a year old, when she died on Friday, December 28, 2001. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, she died after sustaining blunt force trauma. Her death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department case. The record does not give an address, a neighborhood or a city for where she was hurt.
She was a white baby girl whose life was measured in months, not years. Beyond her name, her age and the agency that handled her case, almost nothing about Alicia 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 her death. Her name is a common one, and searches turned up only other girls and women named Alicia White, in other states and other years, with no connection to this case.
Because so little has been released, even the basic circumstances of her death remain unknown to the public. The record does not say where she was when she was injured, who was caring for her at the time, whether she died at home or later at a hospital, or whether anyone was ever questioned about what happened. Blunt force trauma is a broad finding. In an infant it can result from a blow, a fall, being shaken or struck against a surface, or an accident involving a vehicle, and the coroner's ruling of homicide means only that another person caused the death. The record does not say which of these, if any, applied to Alicia.
The death of a baby is among the most difficult kinds of cases investigators face. Such deaths usually happen indoors, out of public view, and the only people present may be the adults who cared for the child. These cases can depend heavily on medical evidence and on what the people around the child are willing to say, and they can remain open for years when that evidence is not enough to bring a charge. Her death came just three days after Christmas, at a time of year when families gather, which suggests that relatives or visitors may have seen her in the days before she died.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department patrols the unincorporated areas of the county and dozens of cities that contract with it for police services, stretching from the Antelope Valley to the South Bay and the San Gabriel Valley. Because the record gives no location, it is not known which of those communities was her home.
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 Alicia Kalah White could be found in news archives or public records. More than 24 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who knew Alicia or her family in late December 2001, or who has any knowledge of how she was hurt, may hold information that could help investigators. 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 Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
