Othello Zelee was 23 years old when he died on Wednesday, June 1, 2011, in Sylmar. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at 12836 W. Hubbard St. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a case of the Los Angeles Police Department's Mission Division.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report described him as "a 23-year-old black man" who "was stabbed to death Wednesday, June 1, in the 12800 block of West Hubbard Street in Sylmar." Ed Winter, a spokesman for the coroner's office, said Zelee "was stabbed several times outside a halfway house about 12:24 p.m." He was taken to a hospital, where he died at 2:46 p.m.
The Los Angeles Daily News identified him the next day as a resident of Granada Hills. The paper reported that he was stabbed multiple times outside a sober living home on Hubbard Street and was taken to Providence Holy Cross Medical Center, where he died about two hours later.
A genealogy listing gives his date of birth as March 4, 1988.
According to Detective Jim Freund, the Daily News reported, Zelee was fatally stabbed during a confrontation with an 18-year-old resident of the sober living home. "It was still unclear what the argument was about," the paper wrote, and "the two men did not seem to know each other." The 18-year-old was also stabbed during the incident and was taken to a hospital in stable condition. Freund said he was expected to be booked with murder when he was released.
That is where the public record stops. No later news report, court record or appellate opinion could be found showing that the young man was in fact booked, that prosecutors filed a charge, or that any case went to court. Because both men were injured, the question of who started the fight may also have mattered to prosecutors, but the record does not say.
Beyond his age, his hometown and the circumstances of his death, little about Othello Zelee has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found. His name is unusual, and no other person with the same name appears in the search results, but no one who knew him appears to have written about him publicly.
Sylmar is the northernmost neighborhood of the city of Los Angeles, at the top of the San Fernando Valley below the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. It is known for its semi-rural streets, horse properties and a mix of houses and apartment complexes. Granada Hills, where he lived, lies a few miles to the west, also in the northern Valley.
Homicides in Los Angeles fell steeply in the late 2000s and early 2010s, yet many killings from those years were never solved.
No record of an arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Othello Zelee 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. Anyone who was on Hubbard Street in Sylmar on the afternoon of June 1, 2011, or who knew Othello Zelee in Granada Hills, 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.
