Najat Zuniga Pennell

Najat Zuniga Pennell was 41 years old when she was found dead on the morning of Saturday, February 28, 2015, in the Windsor Square area of Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, she died of stab wounds in the 4000 block of Wilshire Boulevard. Her death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles Police Department case, investigated by West Bureau Homicide detectives.

Two passersby found her on a bus bench on the northeast corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Norton Avenue. The Los Angeles Times reported that "a man and a woman found Pennell motionless on a bus bench with what appeared to be blood on her face." According to the Beverly Press, they walked to a nearby fire station to report what they saw. Paramedics pronounced her dead at the scene and believed she had been dead for hours.

Police said she had been homeless for several years and "frequently slept at the bus bench" where she was found. Detectives believed she was killed overnight between February 27 and February 28. The Beverly Press reported that she was "a native of Belize." Det. John Skaggs told the paper, "The motive is truly unknown. There was no evidence of robbery; no evidence of anything." The LAPD said no weapon had been recovered.

In April 2015 the Times returned to her case. Her daughter, Lia Davis, said her mother had been living on the streets since 2007, and that when she was killed she had an iPod, a video recorder and some cash. "I don't get why someone would stab her and not take the money she had on her," Davis said. Davis dressed her mother for her funeral. Skaggs said he had gone back to the area at least 40 times, some visits as early as 2:30 a.m., because he believed she was killed around 3 a.m. "Nobody is out," he said. "Nobody is hearing anything, nobody is seeing anything. That makes it tough."

Two years later, in April 2017, the Beverly Press reported that West Bureau detectives were still investigating her death while also looking into the killing of another homeless woman in the area. A detective said there was no evidence directly linking the two cases.

Windsor Square is one of the city's oldest and wealthiest neighborhoods, a district of large historic homes that includes the official residence of the mayor of Los Angeles. Wilshire Boulevard, one of the busiest streets in the region, runs along its southern edge and leads east into Koreatown, where activity continues late into the night. The bench where she slept stood on that stretch of Wilshire, in the open, along a heavily traveled route.

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 Najat Zuniga Pennell 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. Detectives asked anyone who was near Wilshire Boulevard and Norton Avenue late on February 27 or early on February 28, 2015, including drivers and bus riders, to come forward. Someone who passed that bench in the dark may have seen more than they realized. Even a small detail, such as a name overheard, a vehicle seen nearby or a conversation remembered, can help detectives move a case forward. West Bureau Homicide detectives can be reached at 382-9470. 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.