Marshall Corey Nicholas was 30 years old when he died on Thursday, December 2, 2021, in Lancaster. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds after being stabbed near Jackman Street and Fern Avenue. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a case of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report recorded his death in a single sentence drawn from coroner's records, describing him as "a 30-year-old white male" who "died Thursday, Dec. 2, after being stabbed near Jackman Street & Fern Avenue in Lancaster."
One more detail suggests that, for a time, investigators did not know who he was.
A discussion thread on the crime forum Websleuths is titled "CA - Lancaster, WhtMale 20-25, UP87901, Stabbed, Tattoos, Clothing, Dec'21 - Marshall Nicholas," and it gives the date the body was found as December 2, 2021, citing NamUs, the national database for missing and unidentified people. The UP number and the estimated age range of 20 to 25 are the kind of entries made for a person who has not yet been identified, which suggests that his name was attached to the case only later. Social media posts that circulated afterward said he had been identified, according to the coroner, as 30-year-old Marshall Nicholas, stabbed on December 2, 2021.
Beyond that, almost nothing about his life has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found, and no news outlet appears to have written about his death. Marshall Nicholas is a name shared by other men in other states, including a young man in Virginia who is remembered by a foundation in his name, but none of them can be connected to this case. He surely had family, friends or neighbors who remember him.
Because so little has been released, even the basic circumstances remain unknown to the public. The record does not say whether he was stabbed during a fight or a robbery, attacked by a stranger or by someone he knew, or hurt indoors or on the street. 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.
Lancaster is the largest city in the Antelope Valley, the high-desert region of northern Los Angeles County. It grew quickly in the late twentieth century as families moved north in search of cheaper housing, and it contracts with the Sheriff's Department for police services through the Lancaster Station.
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 Marshall Corey Nicholas could be found in news archives or public records. More than four years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who knew Marshall Nicholas, or who was near Jackman Street and Fern Avenue in Lancaster in early December 2021, may hold information that could help. Anyone who knew a man of about 30 who disappeared from their life around that time may also be able to fill in what is missing. 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.
