Smith Manning was 70 years old when he died on Monday, Feb. 23, 2004, in Historic South-Central Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at 625 E. 21st St. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles Police Department case, assigned to the 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 70-year-old black male" who "died Monday, Feb. 23, after being stabbed in Historic South-Central." The entry gave an address on East 21st Street, but it did not say whether that was his home, the place where he was attacked or simply where he was found. No follow-up news story about his death appears to have been published.
Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Smith Manning 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 easily lost in searches, because Smith and Manning are both common surnames and the pairing turns up many people for whom Smith is a middle or maiden name. 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.
His age makes the case stand out. At 70, he may have been less able to defend himself or get away from an attacker than a younger man would have been.
Historic South-Central is one of the oldest parts of South Los Angeles, lying just south of downtown and east of the Harbor Freeway. In the early and middle twentieth century it was the heart of Black Los Angeles, with Central Avenue as its main street and a celebrated jazz scene. Today it mixes older houses, apartment buildings, small factories and warehouses. The area is patrolled by the LAPD's Newton Division.
At 70, Smith Manning had lived a long life. He may have been a father, a grandfather, a neighbor or an old friend to people who still remember him.
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 Smith Manning could be found in news archives or public records. More than 21 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who knew a 70-year-old man named Smith Manning in South Los Angeles, or who was on or near East 21st Street in late February 2004, 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).
