Brian Keith Cole was 46 years old when he died on Friday, May 23, 2008, in the Exposition Park area of South Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at 1770 W. 35th St. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles Police Department South Bureau Homicide case.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report, which drew on coroner's records, contains only one sentence about him. It said that "Brian Keith Cole, a 46-year-old black male, died Friday, May 23, after being stabbed in Exposition Park, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records." No follow-up entry appears to have been published, and no detective's name or phone number was included.
Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Brian Keith Cole has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for this story, and no other news outlet appears to have reported on the death.
He surely had family, friends or neighbors who remember who he was, but none of that has entered the public record.
Because so little has been released, even the basic circumstances remain unknown to the public. The record does not say whether he was stabbed during a fight or a robbery, attacked by a stranger or by someone he knew, or hurt indoors or on the street. It does not say what time of day he was hurt, whether he died at the scene or later at a hospital, whether anyone saw what happened, or whether investigators ever identified a suspect. It is not even clear from the record whether the address on 35th Street was a home, a business or simply the place where he was found.
The use of his full name, including his middle name, in the coroner's records may help anyone who knew him recognize him. Without it, he would be even harder to trace, because Brian Cole is a common name. Searches turn up a professional football player, a minor league baseball player and men in Virginia, North Carolina and other states, none of whom has any connection to this death.
Exposition Park takes its name from the large park south of downtown Los Angeles that is home to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, the California Science Center and the Exposition Park Rose Garden. The surrounding neighborhood, next to the University of Southern California, is a mix of older houses, apartment buildings, student housing and small businesses.
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 Brian Keith Cole 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 Brian Keith Cole, who knew where he lived or whom he spent time with in the spring of 2008, or who heard about a stabbing on West 35th Street in late May 2008, 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).
