Thomas Grimes was 27 years old when he died on Sunday, June 1, 2008, in Westlake, just west of downtown Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at 727 S. Carondelet St. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles Police Department Rampart Division case.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report said that Grimes "was stabbed several times in the 700 block of South Carondelet Street near MacArthur Park shortly after midnight Sunday, June 1." He "was taken by ambulance to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead."
The entry gave an unusually specific account of what led to the attack. According to Officer Norma Eisenman of the LAPD's media relations office, Grimes "was part of a tagging crew and was tagging in a rival gang area." She said that "about six to 10 Latino gang members chased after Grimes. The group then stabbed him several times."
The attackers then "fled the scene in their vehicle." The report asked anyone with information to call homicide detectives from LAPD's Rampart Division at (213) 207-2000.
That account suggests that police quickly formed a picture of the motive, and that the killing grew out of a dispute over territory and graffiti. It also means that a large group of people took part in the chase and the attack, and that each of them knows what happened that night. The record does not name the gang or the tagging crew, does not describe the vehicle the attackers used, and does not say whether anyone with Grimes escaped or saw the attackers' faces. No follow-up entry appears to have been published.
Beyond those details, little about Thomas Grimes's life has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found. Thomas Grimes is a common name, and searches turn up many other men who share it, including an athlete, a lawyer and men in Oregon and Pennsylvania, none of whom has any connection to this case. He surely had family and friends who remember him, but none of that has entered the public record.
Westlake is one of the most densely populated neighborhoods in Los Angeles, a district of older apartment buildings, small shops and street vendors. At its center is MacArthur Park, with its lake and its view of the downtown skyline, a park that has been a gathering place for generations of immigrant families. Carondelet Street is one of the residential streets lined with apartment buildings near the park, and even after midnight the neighborhood is rarely empty.
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 Thomas Grimes 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 was near Carondelet Street and MacArthur Park shortly after midnight on June 1, 2008, who saw a group chasing a young man or a vehicle speeding away, or who has heard someone talk about that night, may hold information that could help detectives. 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).
