Jacquelyn Fields

Jacquelyn Fields was 46 years old when she was found dead on Friday, May 9, 2008, in an alley in South Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, she died of stab wounds at 11208 Avalon Blvd., in the Green Meadows neighborhood. Her death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a case of the Los Angeles Police Department's South Bureau Homicide unit.

The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report, which spelled her first name Jaquelyn, said that Fields, "a black woman, was found dead in an alley in the 11200 block of Avalon Boulevard in South Los Angeles about 9:30 a.m." that Friday. Police said she "died of multiple stab wounds and blunt force trauma."

Investigators said that she "was known to frequent the area of Imperial Highway and Avalon Boulevard," a busy intersection just south of where she was found. Authorities said she "was last seen by friends late Thursday," the night before her body was discovered. That timeline suggests that she may have been killed sometime during the night, though the report does not say when she died or whether she was killed in the alley or brought there. "There are no suspects, and a motive for the slaying was unknown, police said." The report asked anyone with information to call South Bureau Homicide Det. Sal LaBarbera at (213) 485-4341.

Beyond her name, her age and the place where she died, almost nothing about Jacquelyn Fields has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for this story, and no news outlet appears to have reported on the death. She surely had family, friends or neighbors who remember who she was, but none of that has entered the public record. Jacquelyn Fields is also a fairly common name, shared by a university athlete, a researcher and women whose obituaries appeared in Florida, Missouri and Iowa, none of whom has any connection to this death.

The few facts that were released leave large gaps. The record does not say where she lived, whether she had a home or stayed on the streets, or who the friends were who saw her on Thursday night. It does not say who found her, whether anyone heard anything in the alley, or whether detectives ever developed a suspect.

Green Meadows is a neighborhood of South Los Angeles made up mostly of modest single-family homes and small apartment buildings on long residential blocks. Avalon Boulevard is one of the main north and south streets through the area, lined with small businesses, churches and homes, and alleys run behind many of its commercial lots. Imperial Highway, which crosses it a short distance south of the place where she was found, is one of the main east and west routes through the area.

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 Jacquelyn Fields 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 Jacquelyn Fields, who saw her near Imperial Highway and Avalon Boulevard on the night of May 8, 2008, or who noticed anything unusual in the alleys along the 11200 block of Avalon Boulevard 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).