Almetrius Goss was 40 years old when she died on Thursday, April 10, 2003, in Long Beach. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, she died of stab wounds at 6841 Obispo Ave. Her death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a case of the Long Beach Police Department.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report recorded her death in a single sentence drawn from coroner's records. It described her as "a 40-year-old black female" who "died Thursday, April 10, after being stabbed in Long Beach." The entry did not say what happened, whether she knew the person who stabbed her or whether she died at the scene. No follow-up story appears to have been written, and no police statement about the case could be found.
One small public trace may connect her to the street where she died. A published list of unclaimed funds held by the state includes a savings account in the name of Almetrius Goss at an address on the same block of Obispo Avenue.
That suggests she may have lived on or near the block, and that she may have been hurt close to home, although the record does not say so.
Beyond her name, her age and the place where she died, almost nothing about Almetrius Goss 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 first name is unusual, and searches find almost no one else who shared it, which makes the silence around her death all the more striking.
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.
At 40, she was in the middle of her adult life. She may have had children, a partner, brothers and sisters or friends on her street, and some of those people may still remember the spring of 2003. Nothing in the public record says who stabbed her or why.
Obispo Avenue runs through North Long Beach, a largely residential part of the city made up of single-family houses, small apartment buildings and neighborhood shopping streets.
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 Almetrius Goss 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 a 40-year-old woman named Almetrius Goss, or who lived on or near Obispo Avenue in North Long Beach in April 2003, 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 contact the Long Beach Police Department's Homicide Detail at 562-570-7244, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477).
