Steve Arnett Brown was 30 years old when he died on Thursday, December 18, 2003, in the Florence neighborhood of South Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at 7412 S. Wadsworth Ave. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles Police Department case handled by the 77th Street Division.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report described him as "a 30-year-old black male" who "died Thursday, Dec. 18, after being stabbed in Florence." A news release issued by the LAPD the same day gave more detail. According to the department, "at about 8:00 a.m., 30 year-old Steve Arnett Brown was inside his residence" on South Wadsworth Avenue. "A suspect walked inside the residence and stabbed Brown once in the chest and left the scene," the release said. Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics responded and pronounced him dead at the scene.
The release gave the house number as 7415, while the coroner's record gave 7412, a small difference that was never explained.
Police said that "the motive appears to be a dispute." The release did not say what the dispute was about or whether the two men knew each other well.
Detectives moved quickly. The LAPD said that while the suspect was outstanding, detectives "have obtained information" identifying a 35-year-old man as the person wanted for the killing, and that a felony murder warrant was being sought from the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. The department named that man in its release. This account does not, because no later report of an arrest, a criminal charge or a court case could be found, and a warrant request by itself is not proof of guilt. It is possible that the man was later found and the case resolved without news coverage, and it is also possible that he was never located.
Beyond the police release, almost nothing about Steve Arnett Brown has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found. Steve Brown is a very common name, and searches turn up many unrelated men, including musicians, a record producer and men remembered in obituaries across the country.
Florence is a residential neighborhood in South Los Angeles, made up largely of single-family houses and small apartment buildings on long, straight streets. Wadsworth Avenue is one of its quiet north-south residential streets. 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.
The release asked anyone with information to call 77th Street Homicide detectives at 213-485-1383. A killing at a man's own home, a week before Christmas, in the early morning, may have been seen or heard by neighbors on the block.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Steve Arnett Brown could be found in news archives or public records. More than 22 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who knew Steve Brown, or who was on or near South Wadsworth Avenue in Florence in December 2003, may hold information that could help investigators. 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).
