Trevante Romero Banks was 27 years old when he died on Thursday, May 25, 2017, three weeks after he was stabbed near West Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Crenshaw Boulevard. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds, and the location is listed in the 4000 block of Crenshaw Boulevard in Leimert Park. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a case of the Los Angeles Police Department's Criminal Gang Homicide unit.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report described how the attack began. About 11:30 p.m. on May 4, Banks "and another person were standing on a street corner drinking together when the other man challenged Banks to a fist fight," Los Angeles Police Det. Dave Garrido said. Instead, "the man pulled out a knife and stabbed Banks," police said.
Detectives released a description of the man they were looking for: "a black man in his 30s." Banks was taken to a hospital, where he survived for three weeks.
He died on May 25 at 8:14 p.m., according to coroner's records.
That account suggests that Banks knew the man who stabbed him, at least well enough to share a drink with him on a street corner, and that the attacker may have been known to others in the area. The Times did not report a name, a motive, or what led to the challenge to fight. It did not say whether others were on the corner that night, or whether the attacker fled on foot or in a vehicle.
A memorial listing posted by Dignity Memorial adds a few details. It gives his name as Trevante Romeo Banks, says he "was born on August 28, 1989 and passed away on May 25, 2017," and says that his arrangements were handled by Lighthouse Memorials & Receptions in Torrance. The middle name differs from the coroner's spelling by one letter, but the dates match the record, which suggests that the listing is for the same man. No longer obituary or family fundraiser could be found, and no news follow-up appears to have been written.
The intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. and Crenshaw boulevards lies at the heart of the Crenshaw district, beside the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza shopping center. Nearby Leimert Park has long been a center of Black life and culture in Los Angeles, known for its village of shops, galleries, music venues and its weekend drum circles.
By the mid-2010s Los Angeles was recording roughly 250 to 300 homicides a year, among the lowest totals in decades, yet many of those killings still went unsolved.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Trevante Romero Banks could be found in news archives or public records. More than eight years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who was near the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. and Crenshaw boulevards around 11:30 p.m. on May 4, 2017, who saw two men drinking together before a fight broke out, or who knew a man in his 30s who talked about a stabbing that spring, 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. The Times asked anyone with information to call the LAPD's Southwest Division homicide squad at 786-5110. 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.
