Carlos Green was 66 years old when he died on Saturday, March 7, 2009, in Lincoln Heights, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at Avenue 19 and North Broadway. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a case of the Los Angeles Police Department's Hollenbeck Division.
The day after the killing, the LAPD issued a news release headlined "Homeless Man Fatally Stabbed, Suspect Sought." It said that "on March 7, 2009, at 11:00 a.m., the victim, identified as 66-year-old Carlos Green, was pushing a shopping cart on Avenue 19, between North Broadway and Pasadena Avenue when he was confronted by an unidentified attacker who fatally stabbed him several times." The release added that "the victim died at the scene."
The Los Angeles Times reported that Green "was stabbed several times on the sidewalk on Avenue 19 in Lincoln Heights about 11 a.m. Saturday and died at the scene, police said."
The Daily News and ABC7 carried the same account, and both described him as homeless.
From the start, detectives had little to go on. "Investigators have few leads and no description of the suspect," the LAPD said, and it asked anyone with information to call Hollenbeck Homicide detectives at 323-526-3678 or 323-526-3680.
The details that were released are striking. The attack happened in late morning, on a public sidewalk, on a street close to one of the main roads through the neighborhood. That suggests other people may have been nearby, though police did not say whether anyone saw it. The record also does not say whether Green knew his attacker, whether anything was taken from his cart, or whether there had been an argument beforehand.
Almost nothing about Green's life has been made public beyond his age and the fact that he was living on the streets. No obituary or memorial page could be found. The name Carlos Green is shared by many other men, including people in Florida, New Jersey and Tennessee whose criminal cases appear in search results, but none of them has any connection to this death.
Lincoln Heights is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Los Angeles, lying just northeast of downtown near the Los Angeles River. It is known for its older homes, Lincoln Park and its busy commercial stretch along North Broadway. Some early news reports placed the killing in "East Los Angeles," a loose term for the area east of downtown, but the coroner's record and the Times both identify the neighborhood as Lincoln Heights.
Homicides in Los Angeles fell steeply in the late 2000s and early 2010s, yet many killings from those years were never solved. Killings of homeless people, often committed in public places by attackers who leave quickly, can be especially hard to solve.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Carlos Green could be found in news archives or public records. More than 16 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who was on Avenue 19 between North Broadway and Pasadena Avenue on the morning of March 7, 2009, or who knew Carlos Green, 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).
