Kenneth Lamont Combs was 57 years old when he died on Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2018, in the Vermont Square neighborhood of South Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at 2020 Vernon Ave. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles Police Department 77th Street Division case.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report recorded him as a Black man who "died Wednesday, Oct. 31, after being stabbed in Vermont Square." He died on Halloween, but the record does not say whether the holiday had anything to do with what happened. Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Kenneth Combs 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.
Kenneth Combs is a fairly common name, and searches for it turn up obituaries for many other men from Kentucky, Virginia, Minnesota, Indiana and Tennessee, none of them connected to this death. His middle name, Lamont, is less common, and anyone who knew him by his full name, or by a nickname, may be able to fill in parts of his story that have never been made public.
Vermont Square is a residential neighborhood in South Los Angeles, named for Vermont Avenue, one of the longest and busiest streets in the city. Its blocks are lined mostly with older single-family houses and small apartment buildings, with shops, churches and small businesses along the larger avenues. The neighborhood is home to the Vermont Square Branch Library, a Carnegie library that opened in 1913 and is one of the oldest branch library buildings in Los Angeles. Many families there have lived in the area for generations, and neighbors on its streets often know one another by sight.
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 Kenneth Lamont Combs could be found in news archives or public records. More than seven years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who was near 2020 Vernon Ave. on Halloween night or the day of Oct. 31, 2018, who knew Kenneth in Vermont Square or elsewhere in South Los Angeles, or who heard later talk about how he was hurt, may hold information that could help detectives. 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.
