Charles Thomas was 71 years old when he died on Friday, June 6, 2008, in Long Beach. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at 1208 Myrtle Ave. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Long Beach Police Department case.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report said that Thomas, "a black man, was stabbed to death inside his apartment home at 1208 Myrtle Ave. in Long Beach at about 3:30 a.m. Friday, June 6." Long Beach Fire Department paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.
The Times entry described how he was found. According to the Long Beach Police Department, neighbors told officers that they heard a struggle coming from his apartment in the middle of the night. "Police said the neighbors then went to check on Thomas, saw him lying on the floor through the living room window and called 911."
The report asked anyone with information to call Long Beach Police Homicide Detectives David Rios and William Matsubara at (562) 570-7244.
That account suggests that he was attacked inside his own home, and that his neighbors were close enough to hear what was happening and to act quickly. It also suggests that whoever stabbed him may have left only moments before they arrived. The record does not say whether there were signs of forced entry, whether anything was taken, or whether Thomas knew the person who was inside his apartment. It does not say whether the neighbors saw or heard anyone leaving, or whether detectives ever identified a suspect.
The killing of a 71-year-old man in his own home in the early morning hours is the kind of crime that tends to frighten a whole building. Yet beyond the Times entry, almost nothing about Charles Thomas has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found, and no other news outlet appears to have followed the case. Charles Thomas is a very common name, and searches turn up many other men who share it, in Long Beach and across the country, none of whom can be tied to this death. He surely had family, friends or neighbors who remember who he was, but none of that has entered the public record.
Long Beach is the second-largest city in Los Angeles County, a port city on San Pedro Bay with its own police department. Away from the waterfront and the downtown towers, much of the city is made up of older apartment buildings, small houses and courtyard complexes on closely spaced streets, where neighbors often live just a wall or a window apart. Myrtle Avenue is one of those residential streets.
Hundreds of people are killed in Los Angeles County every year, and a large share of those killings end without an arrest.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Charles Thomas could be found in news archives or public records. More than 17 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who knew Charles Thomas, who visited him in the weeks before his death, or who saw someone near the apartments on Myrtle Avenue in Long Beach in the early morning of June 6, 2008, 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 contact the Long Beach Police Department's Homicide Detail at 562-570-7244, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477).
