Jimmie Lee Jackson was 71 years old when he was found dead on Friday, August 7, 2015, in Westlake, just west of downtown Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at his home on South Bonnie Brae Street. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a case of the Los Angeles Police Department's Rampart Division.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report described him as "a 71-year-old black man" and gave a brief account. "Jackson was found dead in his bedroom with stab wounds shortly before 2 p.m., said LAPD Det. Ray Martinez. Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene. Police have no suspects at this time, Martinez said." The Times added that "Jackson lived at an apartment complex for people with mental health issues." It asked anyone with information to call Rampart homicide detectives at 484-3642.
That single detail about where he lived says something about his life in his later years.
He may have relied on supportive housing, staff or services, and he would have shared his building with other residents, some of whom may have known him well. The record does not say who found him, when he had last been seen alive, whether his door was locked, or whether anything was taken from his room. It does not say whether investigators believed the person who killed him lived in the building or came from outside.
At 71, he was far older than most homicide victims in Los Angeles, and his death in his own bedroom, in a place meant to offer care and safety, is especially troubling.
Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Jimmie Lee Jackson has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for this story, and no follow-up news report appears to have been published. His name is shared with Jimmie Lee Jackson, the young civil rights activist whose killing by an Alabama state trooper in 1965 helped lead to the Selma to Montgomery marches, and searches for it are dominated by that history. Many other men named Jimmie Jackson also appear in obituaries around the country, none of whom can be connected to this death.
Westlake is one of the most densely populated neighborhoods in Los Angeles, a district of older apartment buildings, residential hotels and busy commercial streets centered on MacArthur Park. It is home to many working families and recent immigrants, and also to many people who rely on supportive housing and social services. Bonnie Brae Street is one of the neighborhood's residential streets. The area is patrolled by the LAPD's Rampart Division.
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 Jimmie Lee Jackson could be found in news archives or public records. More than ten years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who lived or worked at his apartment complex on South Bonnie Brae Street in August 2015, or who knew a 71-year-old resident named Jimmie Lee Jackson, 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.
