Davion Jay Lindsey was 22 years old when he died on Wednesday, April 5, 2017, in Florence-Firestone. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds in the 1700 block of East 92nd Street. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a case of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Homicide Bureau.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report recorded his death in a single sentence drawn from coroner's records. It described him as "a 22-year-old black male" who "died Wednesday, April 5, after being stabbed in Florence-Firestone." The entry did not name a detective or describe how the stabbing happened. No news story about the killing appears to have been published.
A memorial page posted by Long Beach Colonial Mortuary fills in a few facts. It is headed "In Loving Memory of Davion Jay Lindsey" and gives his birth date as May 3, 1994, which matches the age in the coroner's record.
The page lists his date of death as April 6, 2017, one day later than the coroner's date, a small difference that may reflect when the death was recorded. According to the page, visitation was held on Monday, May 1, at the mortuary on Atlantic Avenue in Long Beach, and the funeral service followed there on Tuesday, May 2, at 11 a.m. He was laid to rest at Abbey Memorial Park in Compton.
The page does not include a written obituary, and the guestbook holds no messages. It does not name his parents, siblings or children, and it says nothing about his schooling, his work or what he enjoyed. The arrangements show that people who loved him gathered to say goodbye nearly four weeks after his death, but nothing more about his life has been made public.
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.
Florence-Firestone is an unincorporated community in South Los Angeles, which is why its homicides are investigated by the Sheriff's Department rather than the LAPD. It is a densely populated area of small houses, apartment buildings and corner businesses, crossed by Florence Avenue, Firestone Boulevard and a Metro rail line. It has long been a working-class neighborhood where many families have deep roots.
Hundreds of people are killed in Los Angeles County every year, and a large share of those killings end without an arrest.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Davion Jay Lindsey 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 lived on or near East 92nd Street in Florence-Firestone in April 2017, or who knew a 22-year-old man named Davion Lindsey, 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 contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
