Robert Earl Lee was 61 years old when he died on Thursday, May 31, 2007, on the east side of downtown Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at 1002 E. 7th St. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a case of the Los Angeles Police Department's Newton Division.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report recorded his death in a single sentence drawn from coroner's records. It described him as "a 61-year-old black male" who "died Thursday, May 31, after being stabbed in Downtown." The entry gave a street address, but it did not say whether he lived there, whether he was passing through or whether that was simply where he was found. It did not say whether he died at the scene or at a hospital. No follow-up story appears to have been written.
Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Robert Earl Lee 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. Robert Lee is one of the most common names in the United States, and searches turn up many other men called Robert Earl Lee, including men whose obituaries were published in Illinois, Kansas and other parts of California, and several who appear in court records in other states. None of them can be connected to this death.
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.
At 61, he was older than most homicide victims. The record does not say whether he was working, retired or living on the street, and nothing in the public record explains how a man of his age came to be stabbed on a downtown street.
The 1000 block of East 7th Street lies in the industrial eastern part of downtown, an area of warehouses, wholesale businesses, produce and garment trades and small factories, with few permanent residents. It is not far from Skid Row, where thousands of homeless people live in shelters, single-room hotels and on the sidewalks. The case was assigned to the LAPD's Newton Division, which covers neighborhoods to the south and southeast of downtown.
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 Robert Earl Lee could be found in news archives or public records. More than 18 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who knew a 61-year-old man named Robert Lee who spent time on the east side of downtown Los Angeles, or who was near East 7th Street at the end of May 2007, 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 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).
