Shanise Michelle Blueford was 23 years old when she died on Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2005, in Inglewood, the city just southwest of Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, she died of stab wounds at 803 N. Edgewood St. Her death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as an Inglewood Police Department case.
The coroner's record describes her as a young Black woman. Beyond her name, her age and the place where she died, almost nothing about Shanise Michelle Blueford 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.
Her surname is not a common one, which might have been expected to make her easier to trace, yet searches turned up nothing at all about her beyond the coroner's entry in the Los Angeles Times Homicide Report.
Because so little has been released, even the basic circumstances remain unknown to the public. The record does not say whether she was stabbed during a fight or a robbery, attacked by a stranger or by someone she knew, or hurt indoors or on the street. It does not say what time of day she was hurt, whether she died at the scene or later at a hospital, whether anyone saw what happened, or whether investigators ever identified a suspect.
The coroner gave a specific street address on North Edgewood Street, which suggests she may have been found at or near a home or apartment building. The record does not say whether she lived there, was visiting someone, or was found outside.
At 23, Shanise would have been only a few years out of school. Whatever her life looked like in the summer of 2005, the people around her would have known it well: where she worked or went to school, who her friends were, and whom she saw in the days before she died.
Inglewood is an older city of about a hundred thousand people that lies between South Los Angeles and Los Angeles International Airport. For decades it was best known as the home of the Forum, where the Lakers and Kings played for many years, and of the Hollywood Park racetrack, which was still running in 2005. Away from those landmarks, much of the city is made up of residential streets of small houses and apartment buildings. Inglewood has its own police department, which investigates killings inside the city limits.
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 Shanise Michelle Blueford could be found in news archives or public records. More than 20 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who lived on or near North Edgewood Street at the end of August 2005, who knew Shanise or the people she spent time with, or who heard later talk about what happened to her, 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 Inglewood Police Department, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477).
