Anthony Flowal was 55 years old when he died on Saturday, Aug. 4, 2012, in South Park, in South Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at 378 E. 56th St. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles Police Department Newton Division case.
The coroner's records describe him as a Black man. When the Los Angeles Times Homicide Report first wrote about his death, it used the coroner's spelling of his name, Anthony Slowal. The Times later corrected the post, noting that it "became aware of the misspelling after the decedent's son contacted the Homicide Report to make the correction." That small note is one of the few public signs of the family he left behind.
According to the Times, Los Angeles police officers responded to a residence at about 12:45 a.m., said Lt. Rick Stabile. Anthony was found near the doorway of the house and was pronounced dead at the scene.
"Authorities are searching for two male suspects," the report said, adding that no other information was available at the time. No description of the two men, no motive and no account of what led up to the stabbing was ever released. The fact that he was found at a doorway suggests he may have been at or near a home when he was attacked, perhaps his own or one he was visiting, but the record does not say whose house it was.
A genealogy listing records that Anthony Flowal died at age 55 on Aug. 4, 2012, and was buried at Riverside National Cemetery. Burial there is generally reserved for military veterans and certain family members, which suggests that he may have served in the armed forces, although no public record found for this story describes his service. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found.
South Park is a neighborhood in South Los Angeles, made up largely of modest single-family homes and small apartment buildings on a grid of numbered streets. Central Avenue, a few blocks away, was for decades the heart of Black Los Angeles and known for its jazz clubs in the 1930s and 1940s, and the community today is largely Latino and Black. Killings in South Park are investigated by detectives from the LAPD's Newton Division, whose station sits on Central Avenue.
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 Anthony Flowal 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. Police said two men were involved, which means at least two people know exactly what happened in the 300 block of East 56th Street shortly after midnight on Aug. 4, 2012. Neighbors who heard voices, saw people running or noticed a car leaving the block that night may hold information that could help detectives identify them. 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.
