Trayana Sidnisha Davis was 22 years old when she died on Wednesday, June 11, 2003, in the Vermont Square neighborhood of South Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, she died of stab wounds at 846 42nd Place. Her death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a case of the Los Angeles Police Department's South Bureau Homicide unit.
The Los Angeles Times reported the next day that "a 22-year-old aspiring model was found stabbed to death after firefighters extinguished a small blaze in her Los Angeles apartment." Her aunt, Denise Davis, told the paper that neighbors heard a confrontation in the apartment in the 800 block of West 42nd Place about 3 a.m. "She was hollering, 'Please help me!'" the aunt said. Neighbors told relatives that they had heard one or more people running from the two-story complex and speeding away in a car.
When they reached the apartment, they found the front door open and flames in the living room.
Firefighters found her body in the hallway of the small studio. Det. Kevin Jolivette said she had been stabbed. Police had no suspects and did not know whether the fire began during the struggle or was set to conceal the killing. Relatives said she had cash in the apartment that she planned to spend on a Lexus, but police said robbery did not appear to be a motive.
An LAPD news release issued six days later said that firefighters had responded to the fire at about 3 a.m., and that "the victim was murdered prior to the location being set on fire." It added that "the suspect's identity and the motive for the murder are unknown at this time," and asked anyone with information to call Southwest Homicide detectives.
She was a graduate of Crenshaw High School and worked as a telemarketer and a security guard. She had recently had photos taken and planned to enroll in modeling classes. "She was very pretty, so she had a lot of friends," her aunt said. Years earlier, as a baby of 14 months, she had survived a drive-by shooting while in her mother's arms, and people had said she "was blessed." Photographs taken at the scene showed her mother, Tracy Davis, waiting with family and friends outside the police tape. More than two decades later, a relative wrote on social media that "Trayana Davis was murdered June 2003" and described it as a cold case.
Vermont Square is a residential neighborhood of South Los Angeles, about a mile south of the University of Southern California, with older homes and small apartment buildings.
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 Trayana Sidnisha Davis 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 lived near West 42nd Place in June 2003, who heard the struggle or saw people running to a car that night, or who knew of anyone with a grudge against her, 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).
