Craig S. Young was 53 years old when he died on Thursday, August 26, 2021, in Pomona. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after being stabbed near 429 E. Kingsley Ave. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a case of the Pomona Police Department.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report recorded his death in a single sentence drawn from coroner's records. It described him as "a 53-year-old white male" who "died Thursday, Aug. 26, after being stabbed near 429 E. Kingsley Ave. in Pomona."
The Pomona Police Department posted about the case on social media under the heading of a fatal stabbing on East Kingsley Avenue. An update dated August 31, 2021, said: "On the day after the stabbing, 53-year-old Craig Young of Pomona died of his injuries." That means he was stabbed on August 25 and lived until the following day, which suggests that he was taken for medical care and survived for some hours before he died.
The same update went on to refer to a suspect, a 26-year-old man. The portion of the post that could be reviewed for this story is cut off before it says whether that man was arrested, charged or ever brought before a court, and no news story, court record or later police statement could be found that answers the question.
Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Craig S. Young 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. Craig Young is a common name, and searches for it turn up an attorney, a music professor, a scientist and many other men in other states, none of whom can be connected to this death.
Because so little has been released, many of the basic circumstances remain unknown to the public. The record does not say whether he was stabbed during a fight, a robbery or a dispute with someone he knew, whether the address on Kingsley Avenue was his home, what time of day he was hurt or whether anyone saw what happened.
Pomona is one of the larger cities in the eastern San Gabriel Valley, near the county line with San Bernardino County. It is home to the Fairplex, where the Los Angeles County Fair has been held for generations, and to Cal Poly Pomona. Its older neighborhoods, near the historic downtown, are made up largely of single-family homes and small apartment buildings, and the city has its own police department.
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 Craig S. Young 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 East Kingsley Avenue in Pomona in August 2021, or who knew a 53-year-old man named Craig Young, 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 Pomona Police Department, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
