Steven Clark

Steven Clark was 27 years old when he died on Sunday, Feb. 10, 2008, after being attacked in East Hollywood. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds suffered at 5214 W. Sunset Blvd. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles Police Department Hollywood Division case.

The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report described him as "a 27-year-old Samoan man" and said he "was stabbed in the neck in a parking lot at 5214 W. Sunset Blvd. about 12:25 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 10." He "was taken to County-USC Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 6:55 a.m." The report added that "two other men were also injured in the incident and were taken to the same hospital, where they were listed in stable condition, police said."

That account shows that Clark was not alone when he was attacked. Three men were hurt in the same incident, which suggests that the stabbing may have grown out of a confrontation involving several people, though the record does not say how it began, whether the two injured men were his friends, or how many attackers there were. The two survivors would have been important witnesses, but nothing they told police has been made public.

Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Steven Clark 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. He surely had family, friends or neighbors who remember who he was, but none of that has entered the public record. Steven Clark is also one of the most common names in the country. It is shared by a professional football player, an actor, several attorneys and many men whose obituaries appear in other states, none of whom has any connection to this death, and that makes any trace of his life especially hard to find.

The record does not say where he lived, what brought him to the parking lot after midnight, or whether anyone was ever identified as a suspect. It also does not say what happened in the six and a half hours between the attack and his death at the hospital.

East Hollywood is a dense, busy district between Hollywood and Silver Lake. Sunset Boulevard runs through it past apartment buildings, strip malls, restaurants and parking lots, and the area includes Thai Town, Little Armenia and Los Angeles City College. Several large hospitals stand along Sunset at the district's eastern end, and the boulevard stays active late into the night.

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 Steven Clark 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 in or near the parking lot at 5214 W. Sunset Blvd. early on Feb. 10, 2008, who knew the men who were hurt that night, or who heard later talk about what happened, 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).