Benny Ray Ferguson was 69 years old when he died on Saturday, September 18, 2021, in East Compton. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after being stabbed near 14528 S. Harris Ave. 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. It described him as "a 69-year-old Black male" who "died Saturday, Sept. 18, after being stabbed near 14528 S. Harris Ave. in East Compton." The entry gave a street address, but it did not say whether that was his home, the home of a relative or friend, or simply the place where he was found. No follow-up story appears to have been written about his death.
Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Benny Ray Ferguson 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. Benny Ferguson is not a rare name, and searches turn up several other men who shared it, including some whose obituaries were published in other states and in other years, none of whom can be connected to this death.
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.
His age makes the case stand out. A man of 69 who was stabbed to death near a residential address is the kind of victim whose absence is felt by a household, a block or a church, and he may well have been a longtime resident of the area. People who saw him regularly may have noticed something in his last days that seemed unimportant at the time.
East Compton, also known as East Rancho Dominguez, is a small unincorporated community just east of the city of Compton in southern Los Angeles County. Because it is not part of any city, it is patrolled by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department rather than a municipal police force. It is largely a residential area of modest single-family homes.
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 Benny Ray Ferguson 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 lived on or near South Harris Avenue in East Compton in September 2021, or who knew a 69-year-old man named Benny Ray Ferguson, 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.
