Christopher Nettles was 30 years old when he was stabbed to death on Sunday, April 1, 2012, in Hawthorne, in the South Bay area of Los Angeles County. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds in the 3300 block of West Rosecrans Avenue. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau case.
The coroner's records describe him as a Black man. The little that is known about how he died comes from a short account in the Los Angeles Times Homicide Report, based on information from sheriff's Sgt. Pauline Panis. The attack happened at about 2:45 a.m. Christopher was walking along the street when he got into an argument with another man, Panis said. During that argument, a third man stabbed him.
He did not die on the street. Friends took him to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The account does not say which hospital, how long the trip took, or whether those friends were with him during the argument or arrived afterward. Panis said the slaying "appears to be gang-related," but she did not say why investigators believed that, and there was "no further information on the motive in the attack." The account also does not describe the man he argued with or the man who stabbed him, and it does not say whether the two were together or how they left.
The fact that friends drove him to a hospital suggests that people who knew him were nearby that night, and they may have seen at least part of what happened. Whether they spoke with detectives has never been reported.
Beyond these few details, almost nothing about Christopher's life has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for this story, and no news story beyond the Homicide Report appears to have described his death. Searches for his name turn up many other men called Christopher Nettles in other states, none of them connected to this case. He surely had family, friends and neighbors who remember who he was, but none of that has entered the public record.
Hawthorne is a city in the South Bay region of Los Angeles County, east of the coast and a few miles south of Los Angeles International Airport. Rosecrans Avenue is one of the major east-west roads that crosses the South Bay, lined with shopping centers, gas stations, apartment buildings and small businesses, and it stays busy with traffic late into the night.
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 Christopher Nettles 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. Anyone who was on or near West Rosecrans Avenue in the early hours of April 1, 2012, or who heard talk about an argument there that night, 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 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.
