Micah Maurice Hatten was 16 years old when he died early on Thursday, May 29, 2014, the morning after he was stabbed on a residential street in Norwalk. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of a stab wound he suffered in the 13000 block of Roseton Avenue. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department case.
The attack happened in the middle of a weekday afternoon. The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report wrote that "Hatten was hanging out with friends in the area about 3:30 p.m. May 28 when a mid-sized vehicle approached," citing Lt. Holly Francisco of the Sheriff's Department. "A male got out of the car, stabbed Hatten and fled southbound on Gard Avenue," Francisco said.
An autopsy showed that he died of a stab wound to the chest.
The Whittier Daily News reported that the stabbing happened near Leffingwell Road and Gard Avenue and that "an attacker or attackers arrived in a vehicle before the deadly confrontation," according to sheriff's Lt. Jason Skeen. No suspect description was available, and no one was in custody. The paper wrote that the wounded teenager "clung to life at the hospital, and was revived by doctors multiple times after losing vital signs, before ultimately succumbing to his injuries early the following morning." He died at St. Francis Medical Center, and coroner's records put the time of death at 12:52 a.m.
The published accounts leave much unexplained. They do not say whether the attacker said anything before the stabbing, whether Micah knew him, or why a car would stop for a group of teenagers on a quiet street. The way the attack unfolded, with a car pulling up and a single person getting out, may suggest that he was targeted, but investigators never said so publicly. The friends who were with him that afternoon were the closest witnesses, and the record does not say what they told detectives. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser for him could be found in the saved record.
Norwalk is a city in southeastern Los Angeles County, made up mostly of single-family homes built in the years after World War II. It is home to the headquarters of the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, and it is served by several freeways and a Metro rail station. Like other cities in the area, it contracts with the Sheriff's Department for police services.
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 Micah Maurice Hatten 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 was near Roseton Avenue, Leffingwell Road or Gard Avenue in Norwalk on the afternoon of May 28, 2014, or who saw a mid-sized car heading south on Gard Avenue that day, may know something that could help. 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.
