Herman James Blueford was 45 years old when he died on Wednesday, June 27, 2001, in Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after sustaining blunt force trauma. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles Police Department case handled by the department's Northeast Division. The public record does not give the address or the neighborhood where he was hurt.
He was a Black man in his mid-40s. Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Herman James Blueford 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. Blueford is an uncommon surname, and searches turned up only a handful of other people who share it, none of whom could be linked to this case.
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 Northeast Division covers a string of hillside and river neighborhoods north and east of downtown, including Highland Park, Eagle Rock, Glassell Park, Atwater Village and Cypress Park. Much of the area grew up in the early 20th century along the Arroyo Seco and the Los Angeles River, with Craftsman houses, small bungalows and older apartment buildings climbing the hills. In 2001 much of the area was home to working-class Latino families, and gentrification had not yet changed it the way it would in later years. Black residents were a small part of the population there, which suggests that a Black man of his age may have been noticed and remembered by neighbors, though the record does not say whether he lived in the area.
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 45-year-old man from blunt force injuries does not appear to have been reported by any news outlet, and his name appears only in the coroner's records.
A man in his mid-40s almost certainly had family, friends or coworkers who noticed when he was gone, and some of them may have heard about what happened to him.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Herman James Blueford 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 him, or who lived in Northeast Los Angeles in late June 2001, 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.
