Danon Joan Wilson was 54 years old when she died on Sunday, Aug. 12, 2012, in Boyle Heights, just east of downtown Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, she died of stab wounds near the corner of Rio and East 7th streets. Her death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles Police Department Hollenbeck Division case.
The coroner's records describe her as a white woman. The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report gave a brief account of how she was found. Her body was discovered lying in the street by a passerby. According to Officer Cleon Joseph, police arrived at the scene at about 1:20 a.m., when they declared her dead. Initial coroner's reports indicated that she had sustained multiple stab wounds.
The report added a line that has not changed in the years since: "Police do not have any information on a possible suspect."
Beyond her name, her age and the place where she died, almost nothing about Danon Joan Wilson 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. She surely had family, friends or neighbors who remember who she was, but none of that has entered the public record. Her first name is unusual, but searches for it turned up only other people named Danon Wilson in other states, none of whom can be connected to the woman who died in Boyle Heights.
Because so little has been released, even the basic circumstances remain unknown to the public. The record does not say whether she lived nearby or was passing through, whether she was attacked where she was found or somewhere else, or whether she knew the person who hurt her. It does not say whether anything was taken from her, whether anyone heard a struggle, or whether investigators ever identified a suspect. The hour at which she was found, in the middle of the night on a quiet corner, suggests that there may have been few people around to see what happened, but the record does not say so.
Boyle Heights is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Los Angeles, lying east of the Los Angeles River across from downtown. For much of the 20th century it was home to a mix of immigrant communities, and for decades it has been a center of Mexican American life in the city, known for Mariachi Plaza on First Street and its busy commercial corridors. Killings there are investigated by detectives from the LAPD's Hollenbeck Division.
Homicides in Los Angeles fell steeply in the late 2000s and early 2010s, yet many killings from those years were never solved.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Danon Joan Wilson could be found in news archives or public records. More than 13 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. The passerby who found her, people who live or work near 7th and Rio streets, and anyone who saw her in the hours before she died on the night of Aug. 11 and 12, 2012, 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.
