Itealy Brooks Morgan was 65 years old when she died on Tuesday, April 13, 2021, in the Green Meadows neighborhood of South Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, she died of stab wounds at 405 E. Imperial Hwy. Her death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a case of the Los Angeles Police Department's South Bureau Homicide unit.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report recorded her death in a single sentence drawn from coroner's records. It described her as "a 65-year-old Black female" who "died Tuesday, April 13, after being stabbed near 405 E. Imperial Hwy in Green Meadows." The entry did not say whether the address was her home, a business or the place where she was found, and no follow-up story appears to have been written.
Beyond her name, her age and the place where she died, almost nothing about Itealy Brooks Morgan 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. She surely had family, friends or neighbors who remember who she was, but none of that has entered the public record. Her first name is unusual, which makes it all the more striking that no memorial, obituary or news story bearing it could be found. Someone who knew a woman named Itealy would likely remember the name.
Because so little has been released, even the basic circumstances remain unknown to the public. The record does not say whether she was stabbed during a fight or a robbery, attacked by a stranger or by someone she knew, or hurt indoors or on the street. It does not say what time of day she was hurt, whether she died at the scene or later at a hospital, whether anyone saw what happened, or whether investigators ever identified a suspect.
Green Meadows is a residential neighborhood in South Los Angeles, made up largely of single-family homes and small apartment buildings on a grid of numbered streets. Imperial Highway is one of the major east-west roads of southern Los Angeles County, running for miles from the coast toward the eastern suburbs, and in this stretch it carries heavy traffic past homes, churches, small businesses and bus stops. The neighborhood sits near Watts, and many families there have lived in the area for generations.
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. The spring of 2021 came during the coronavirus pandemic.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Itealy Brooks Morgan 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 a 65-year-old woman named Itealy Brooks Morgan, or who was near the 400 block of East Imperial Highway in mid-April 2021, may hold information that could help detectives. A neighbor, a fellow church member or someone who saw her regularly at a nearby store or bus stop might remember who she spent time with in the days before she died. 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.
