Gregory Orlando Burgess was 31 years old when he died on Wednesday, May 19, 2021, in Hollywood. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds near 1605 N. Cherokee Ave. 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 entry drawn from coroner's records. It described him as "a 31-year-old Black male" who "died Wednesday, May 19, after being stabbed near 1605 N. Cherokee Ave. in Hollywood." The entry did not say whether the address was a residence, a business or the spot where he was found, and no follow-up story about the case appears to have been written.
Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Gregory Orlando Burgess 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. Gregory Burgess is a common name, shared by an Australian architect, a stage actor, a character in a well-known novel and many men in obituaries across the country, and none of them 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.
Hollywood is one of the best-known neighborhoods in the world, home to the Walk of Fame, the TCL Chinese Theatre and the Dolby Theatre, where the Academy Awards are held. Cherokee Avenue is a side street that crosses Hollywood Boulevard in the heart of that tourist district, lined with apartment buildings, small businesses, bars and nightclubs. Even on a weeknight the surrounding blocks are busy with visitors, residents, workers and people who live on the streets. In May 2021 Hollywood was beginning to recover from the pandemic, as restaurants and nightlife reopened and tourists slowly returned. A stabbing so close to one of the busiest streets in Los Angeles may have been witnessed by people who left before police arrived or never spoke to detectives.
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 Gregory Orlando Burgess 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 Gregory Burgess, or who was on or near the 1600 block of North Cherokee Avenue in Hollywood in May 2021, 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.
