Terence Ray Mayeaux was 46 years old when he died on Sunday, September 14, 2014, in West Compton. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at 14328 S. Carin Avenue. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department case.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report recorded his death in a single sentence. It described him as "a 46-year-old black male" who "died Sunday, Sept.
14, after being stabbed in West Compton, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records." No detective was quoted, no news release was summarized, and no further details were added to the entry in the years that followed.
Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Terence Ray Mayeaux has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for this story, and no news outlet appears to have reported on the death. He surely had family, friends or neighbors who remember who he was, but none of that has entered the public record.
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. The record also does not say whether the address on Carin Avenue was his home, the home of someone he knew, or simply the place where he was found.
Mayeaux is an uncommon surname in Los Angeles County, and a search for his full name turned up no news story, court record or memorial that could be tied to this death. A passing mention of a man with the same surname in an online genealogy discussion could not be connected to him, and it is not used here.
West Compton is an unincorporated area of Los Angeles County that sits just west of the city of Compton, in the southern part of the county. Because it is not part of any city, it is patrolled by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department rather than a city police force, and its homicide cases are handled by the Sheriff's Homicide Bureau. The area is largely residential, made up mostly of single-family homes on quiet streets, with busier commercial corridors a short distance away.
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 Terence Ray Mayeaux could be found in news archives or public records. More than 11 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who lived on or near Carin Avenue in West Compton in September 2014, or who knew Terence Mayeaux and his circle of family and friends at that time, may hold information that could help investigators understand what happened to him. 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.
