Darryl Lovell Lee was 59 years old when he died on Wednesday, November 24, 2021, in Palmdale, the day before Thanksgiving. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds after being stabbed near 39544 Colchester Court. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a case of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau.
Lee was a retired Los Angeles Police Department officer. According to the Sheriff's Department, he was stabbed at about 4 p.m. that Wednesday at a home in the 39500 block of Colchester Court, near the Antelope Valley Freeway, and he was pronounced dead at the scene. FOX reported that he was "stabbed to death inside his Palmdale home." The Antelope Valley Press identified him as "Darryl Lee, 59, of Palmdale."
Three days later, on Saturday, November 27, the Sheriff's Department named Lee's 29-year-old stepson as a person of interest and circulated his photographs.
According to City News Service, detectives said they "would like to interview" him, and authorities described him as "armed and dangerous," urging anyone who saw him to call 911 rather than approach him. The Associated Press reported that "no further details were released." A person of interest is someone investigators want to question, not someone who has been charged with a crime, and no report found for this story says that the stepson was ever arrested or charged in the case.
Those who knew him did not let his death pass quietly. KTLA reported on a vigil in Lancaster that honored him as a slain former police officer, where a friend spoke about the kind of man he was. Beyond those reports, little about his life or his years with the LAPD has been made public, and no published obituary could be found for this story.
Palmdale is one of the two large cities of the Antelope Valley, the high-desert region of northern Los Angeles County. Like neighboring Lancaster, it grew quickly in the late twentieth century as families moved north in search of more affordable homes, many of them on quiet residential streets and cul-de-sacs like Colchester Court, and many residents commute long distances into the Los Angeles basin for work. The city contracts with the Sheriff's Department for police services.
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 Darryl Lovell Lee 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 was on or near Colchester Court in Palmdale on the afternoon of November 24, 2021, or who has heard anything about what happened in the Lee home that day, may hold information that could help. Detectives also asked the public for any information about the whereabouts of the person of interest. 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.
