Robert Zimmerman was 39 years old when he died on Friday, Feb. 9, 2007, in Westmont, an unincorporated community in South Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at 10211 S. Vermont Ave. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department case.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report gave only a brief entry. It said that Zimmerman, "a 39-year-old white man, was stabbed multiple times at 10211 S. Vermont Ave. in Westmont and died at 12:05 p.m. Feb. 9." No longer article followed, and no statement from sheriff's homicide detectives about the case appears in the public record.
Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Robert Zimmerman 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. His name is very common, and searches turn up dozens of other men called Robert Zimmerman, including a man charged in a deadly house fire in Pennsylvania and people whose obituaries were published in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Indiana and Texas. None of them has any connection 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.
The one detail that stands out is the time. The coroner's record places his death shortly after noon, which suggests that he may have been attacked in daylight on a major street, or that he was hurt earlier and died later.
Westmont is a small unincorporated area in the southern part of Los Angeles County, lying just outside the city of Los Angeles and close to the city of Inglewood. Because it is not part of any city, law enforcement there is handled by the Sheriff's Department. It is a working-class community of modest homes and apartment buildings. Vermont Avenue is one of the longest north-south streets in the region and runs through Westmont as a busy commercial corridor, lined with small businesses, bus stops and heavy traffic at most hours of the day.
Hundreds of people are killed in Los Angeles County every year, and a large share of those killings end without an arrest.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Robert Zimmerman 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 39-year-old man named Robert Zimmerman, who saw him in the days before Feb. 9, 2007, or who was on or near South Vermont Avenue in Westmont around that time, 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 contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477).
