Dennis Ali Myers was 45 years old when he died on Wednesday, December 29, 2021, in the Mid-Wilshire area of Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at 5279 W. Olympic Blvd. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a case of the Los Angeles Police Department's West Bureau Homicide unit.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report recorded his death in a single sentence drawn from coroner's records. It described him as "a 45-year-old Black male" who "died Wednesday, Dec. 29, after being stabbed near 5279 W. Olympic Blvd. in Mid-Wilshire." No news story about the killing appears to have been written, and police do not appear to have released any details about what happened.
A little more can be pieced together from a civil court record.
A wrongful death lawsuit later filed in Los Angeles on behalf of his family stated that he was stabbed to death at a 7-Eleven store at that Olympic Boulevard address on or about December 29, 2021. The filing referred to him as Dennis Myers Sr., which suggests he had a son who shared his name. A lawsuit is a set of claims made by one side, not a finding of fact, and the summary available online does not say how the case ended or what led up to the stabbing.
Beyond that record, almost nothing about his life has entered the public record. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for this story. Dennis Myers is also a common name, and searches turn up many other men who share it, including a retired judge in Riverside County and a longtime Nevada journalist, none of whom have any connection to this death.
The record does not say what time of day he was hurt, whether he was a customer or simply passing by, whether he knew the person who attacked him, or whether anyone inside the store saw what happened.
Mid-Wilshire is a broad, densely built stretch of central Los Angeles lying between downtown and the Westside. Its main corridors, Wilshire, Olympic and Pico boulevards, are lined with office buildings, apartment blocks, small shopping centers and gas stations, while the side streets hold older apartment buildings and houses. The area is close to the Miracle Mile and the museums along Wilshire Boulevard, and it is home to a mix of longtime residents and newer arrivals.
Los Angeles recorded about 260 homicides a year in 2018 and 2019, among the lowest yearly totals in more than half a century, yet many of those killings still went unsolved.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Dennis Ali Myers could be found in news archives or public records, apart from the civil lawsuit filed by his family. More than four years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who was at or near the 7-Eleven store on the 5200 block of West Olympic Boulevard in late December 2021, or who knew a 45-year-old man named Dennis Myers, 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 call the Los Angeles Police Department at 877-527-3247 or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
