Deonte Venus was 33 years old when he died on Monday, Jan. 9, 2012, in the Baldwin Hills and Crenshaw area of South Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds in the 4100 block of Somerset Drive. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles Police Department case handled by the Criminal Gang and Homicide Division.
The coroner's records describe him as a Black man. The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report published a short account based on information from the coroner's office. "Venus got into a violent fight with his girlfriend and was stabbed," according to Ed Winter, a spokesman for the coroner's office. Authorities were called, and he was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 6:30 a.m., Winter said. The coroner's office had no other information about the case, and the Times said it had contacted investigators for more details.
No later update appears in the record.
That single account leaves the most important questions unanswered. It does not name the woman, and it does not say whether she was questioned, arrested or released, or whether police or prosecutors ever decided that the stabbing was a crime or an act of self-defense. It does not say where in the home or on the street the fight took place, how long it lasted, whether anyone else was present, or whether there had been trouble between the two before. Because the coroner described the circumstances so directly, it seems likely that investigators knew early on who had been involved, but no arrest, charge or court case connected to the death has surfaced, and the outcome of the investigation has never been made public.
No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser for him could be found for this story. His name appears online only in lists of people killed in Los Angeles County in 2012 and in commercial people-search listings, which give no reliable details about his life. He surely had family and friends who remember him, but their memories have not entered the public record.
Baldwin Hills and Crenshaw form one of the best-known areas of South Los Angeles. The neighborhood has long been a center of Black life and culture in the city, with tree-lined residential streets, hillside homes and apartment buildings, and the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza shopping center nearby. Somerset Drive is a residential street of homes and apartment buildings in the flatter part of the district.
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 Deonte Venus 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 lived near the 4100 block of Somerset Drive in January 2012, who knew Deonte and the people close to him, or who heard what happened in the early hours of Jan. 9, may hold information that could help detectives. The Times asked anyone with information to contact the Los Angeles Police Department's Criminal Gang and Homicide Division at 485-1383. 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.
