Eddie Johnny Roberts was 78 years old when he died on Thursday, July 9, 2020, in the West Adams area of South Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds near the southeast corner of Crenshaw and Jefferson boulevards. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles Police Department South Bureau Homicide case.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report described him as "a 78-year-old Black male" who "died Thursday, July 9, after being stabbed near the S/E corner of S. Crenshaw & West Jefferson boulevards in West Adams." That entry is nearly all that has been made public about his death. Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Eddie Johnny Roberts 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.
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.
Eddie Roberts is a very common name. Searches return a television series from the late 1970s, obituaries for many men of that name in other states and family notices that mention fathers and brothers called Eddie Roberts, but none of them can be tied to the man who died in West Adams.
At 78, he was much older than most victims of street violence in Los Angeles. His age suggests he may have been especially vulnerable to an attacker, though the record does not describe what happened.
The corner of Crenshaw and Jefferson is a busy crossroads in the historic West Adams district. Crenshaw Boulevard has long been one of the main commercial streets of Black Los Angeles, and West Adams is known for its early twentieth century homes and churches. The intersection is lined with shops, gas stations, fast-food restaurants and bus stops.
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 Eddie Johnny Roberts could be found in news archives or public records. More than five years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who was near Crenshaw and Jefferson boulevards in early July 2020, who knew Eddie Roberts or saw him in the days before his death, or who heard later talk about how he was hurt, may hold information that could help detectives. Shop workers, bus riders and longtime residents of the surrounding blocks may remember a man in his late 70s and the people he spent time with. 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.
