Earle Jerome Hurley was 55 years old when he died on Saturday, April 16, 2005, in the Manchester Square neighborhood of South Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at 7618 La Salle Ave. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a case of the Los Angeles Police Department's 77th Street Division.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report recorded his death in a single sentence drawn from coroner's records. It described him as "a 55-year-old black male" who "died Saturday, April 16, after being stabbed in Manchester Square." The entry gave a street address on La Salle Avenue, but it did not say whether that was his home, the home of someone he knew or simply the place where he was found. No follow-up story appears to have been written.
Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Earle Jerome Hurley 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 first name, spelled with a final "e," is less common than the usual Earl, and searches for it turn up only a handful of other men named Earle Hurley, none of whom 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.
He was 55, older than most people killed in South Los Angeles in those years. A man of that age had likely spent decades building a life, with work, friendships and family ties, and his death would have been felt by people who knew him well. The record says nothing about who those people were, but they may still remember him and may still be waiting for an explanation.
Manchester Square is a small residential neighborhood in South Los Angeles, made up mostly of single-family homes and small apartment buildings on quiet, gridded streets. It takes its name from Manchester Avenue, one of the main east-west corridors through that part of the city. The area is patrolled by the LAPD's 77th Street Division.
Los Angeles still recorded roughly 480 to 520 homicides a year in the mid-2000s, and many of those killings were never solved.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Earle Jerome Hurley 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 knew a 55-year-old man named Earle Hurley, or who lived on or near La Salle Avenue in South Los Angeles in April 2005, 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).
