Caroline Tom Mmary was 27 years old when her death was recorded on Tuesday, June 8, 2010, in the Broadway-Manchester neighborhood of South Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, she died of stab wounds at 217 1/2 88th Place. Her death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a case of the Los Angeles Police Department's Robbery-Homicide Division.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report described her in a single sentence as "a 27-year-old female" who "died Tuesday, June 8, after being stabbed in Broadway-Manchester." That brief entry leaves out what came before. Two months earlier, she had been reported missing.
In a release reprinted by the Swahili Time blog, the LAPD said that "the Los Angeles Police Department and family members are asking for the public's help in searching for a missing 26-year-old South Los Angles woman."
Detectives said she "was last seen at a home near 88th Place and Broadway on April 2, 2010 and hasn't been seen since." Family members told police they had not heard from her and that "it's out of character for her to lose contact with them." She had also stopped showing up for work, which she had never missed before. An LAPD missing-person flyer dated May 20, 2010, said she was last seen leaving the 200 block of West 88th Place.
According to the LAPD release, Mmary was originally from Tanzania and "came to the United States to study nursing at a local college in Long Beach." She was the mother of two young daughters, one living in Los Angeles and one living in Africa. Her name sometimes appears as Mmari in community postings.
The date in the coroner's record falls more than two months after she was last seen, which suggests that June 8 may have been the day her body was found rather than the day she was attacked. The public record does not settle that question, and it does not say where she was found or how she came to be stabbed.
Members of the Tanzanian community in Southern California followed the search closely. On July 7, 2010, a funeral service for her was held at Angelus Funeral Home on Crenshaw Boulevard, and a notice posted on the Michuzi blog said her body was expected to be returned to Tanzania within a week. On behalf of her family, the Tanzanian Community in Southern California thanked everyone "for your moral and financial support during this difficult time" and remembered her as "our beloved sister."
Broadway-Manchester is a residential neighborhood in South Los Angeles, named for the intersection of Broadway and Manchester Avenue. It is made up largely of modest single-family homes, small apartment buildings and corner businesses on numbered east-west streets.
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 Caroline Tom Mmary could be found in news archives or public records. More than 15 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who knew Caroline Mmary, who saw her in the spring of 2010, or who was near 88th Place and Broadway between April and June 2010, 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 (877-LAPD-24-7), or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477).
