Joshua Jeron Paxton was 19 years old when he died on Tuesday, September 27, 2011, in the southern part of Los Angeles County. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of a stab wound near 88th Street and Vermont Avenue, in an area the Los Angeles Times listed as Westmont. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a case of the Los Angeles Police Department's Criminal Gang/Homicide Division.
The coroner's records describe him as a Black man. The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report gave a short account of his death, based on information from the coroner's office. Ed Winter, a spokesman for the coroner's office, said Joshua "was found in the front passenger seat of a car about 3:30 a.m. with a stab wound." He was taken to a hospital, where he died 40 minutes later. According to the Times, "Coroner's records show he died from a stab wound to the left side of his chest."
Those few lines raise questions the public record does not answer.
It does not say whose car he was sitting in, whether the car was parked or had been driven to that spot, or whether anyone else was inside with him. It does not say where he was stabbed or who called for help. The fact that he was found in the passenger seat suggests that someone else may have been driving the car at some point that night, but the reports do not say so. No motive was given, and no description of a suspect was released.
Beyond his name, his age and the place where he was found, almost nothing about Joshua Paxton has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for this story, and no news outlet other than the Times appears to have reported on the death. Joshua Paxton is also a name shared by many other people across the United States, and searches turned up obituaries and listings for other men of that name, none of whom can be connected to this death. He surely had family and friends who remember who he was, but none of that has entered the public record.
Vermont Avenue is one of the longest north-south streets in Los Angeles. Westmont is an unincorporated community of Los Angeles County in South Los Angeles, made up mostly of modest homes and apartment buildings. The Times placed the death in Westmont, but the case was assigned to the LAPD, which suggests that the spot where he was found may lie at or near the edge of the city of Los Angeles.
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 Joshua Jeron Paxton could be found in news archives or public records. More than 14 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. At the time, the Times asked anyone with information to call the LAPD Criminal Gang/Homicide Division at 485-4341. Anyone who knew a 19-year-old named Joshua Paxton, or who was near 88th Street and Vermont Avenue in the early hours of September 27, 2011, may hold information 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 call the Los Angeles Police Department at 877-527-3247 or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
