Daniel Thomas Isrel was 16 years old when he died on Thursday, October 18, 2001, in Compton. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after sustaining blunt force trauma at 813 N. Hickory Ave. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a case of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report recorded his death in a single sentence drawn from coroner's records. It described him as "a 16-year-old black male" who "died Thursday, Oct. 18, after sustaining blunt force trauma in Compton." It did not say how he was hurt or whether the address on Hickory Avenue was his home, a friend's house or simply the place where he was found. No follow-up story appears to have been published.
A genealogy record on the AncientFaces website adds a few details. It lists a "Daniel Thomas Isrel of Compton, Los Angeles County, CA" who "was born on October 6, 1985," and says he "died at age 16 years old on October 18, 2001." By those dates he had turned 16 less than two weeks before he died, and he would have been of high school age. The record says he was buried, but the saved portion does not name the cemetery. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found, and no news outlet appears to have reported on his death. His surname is unusual, and searches turned up only one other mention of a Daniel Isrel, in a 2003 Florida obituary, which cannot be tied to him.
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.
Compton is a city of nearly 100,000 people in the southern part of Los Angeles County, between Los Angeles and Long Beach. It is one of the older cities in the county, known for its many single-family homes and for its place in music and sports history. Its residents include large numbers of Black and Latino families. Compton had its own police department until 2000, when the city disbanded it and contracted with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department for police services. That is why a killing in Compton in 2001 was handled by the Sheriff's Homicide Bureau.
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 Daniel Thomas Isrel 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 lived on or near North Hickory Avenue in Compton in October 2001, or who went to school with a 16-year-old named Daniel Isrel, 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 Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
