Jack David Eloyan was 22 years old when he was stabbed to death on Monday, June 8, 2015, in Los Feliz. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds suffered in the 1700 block of North Vermont Avenue. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a case of the Los Angeles Police Department's Northeast Division.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report gave an unusually detailed account of his last minutes. "Eloyan was stabbed in the chest and chin by an unknown number of assailants about 4:15 a.m., then drove himself to the hospital a few blocks away, said Los Angeles Police Department Northeast Homicide Det. H. DiCroce. The victim walked into the hospital and collapsed, the detective said." He was pronounced dead at 4:47 a.m.
Eloyan lived in the Los Feliz area, the Times reported, but "DiCroce said investigators don't know why he drove to the area where he was stabbed, or what caused the fight between him and his assailants."
The detective added that "all the businesses on that street were closed at that time," and that Eloyan "was dressed casually, in shorts, a T-shirt and tennis shoes."
Those few details raise questions that have never been publicly answered. The words "unknown number of assailants" suggest that more than one person may have been involved, but the record does not say how many. That he managed to drive himself to a hospital and walk inside after being stabbed in the chest shows how hard he fought to survive.
Beyond his name, his age and the circumstances of his death, almost nothing about Jack David Eloyan 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. Eloyan is an uncommon surname, which makes it all the more striking that so little about him appears online. At 22, he would have had family, friends and perhaps classmates or coworkers who remember him, but none of that has entered the public record.
Los Feliz is a hillside and flatland neighborhood on the east side of Los Angeles, below Griffith Park and the Griffith Observatory. Vermont Avenue is one of its main north-south streets, lined with apartment buildings, shops, cafes and restaurants. At four in the morning, though, the street would have been mostly quiet, with businesses closed and few people about. The neighborhood is patrolled by the LAPD's Northeast 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 Jack David Eloyan 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 was near the 1700 block of North Vermont Avenue in the early morning of June 8, 2015, or who knew who Jack Eloyan planned to meet that night, 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. The Times asked anyone with information to call LAPD Dets. DiCroce or L. Governo at 344-5744. 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.
