Joseph Nicoly Mitchell was only 17 years old when he died on Wednesday, October 16, 2002, in Long Beach. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at the rear of 2524 Baltic Ave. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Long Beach Police Department case.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report recorded his death in a single sentence drawn from coroner's records. It described him as "a 17-year-old Latino male" who "died Wednesday, Oct. 16, after being stabbed near the Rear of 2524 Baltic Ave. in Long Beach." The phrase "the rear of" suggests he was found behind a building, perhaps in an alley or a back yard, rather than on the street in front, though the entry did not say. No follow-up story about his death appears to have been published.
Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Joseph Nicoly Mitchell 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. Joseph Mitchell is a very common name, and searches return a celebrated New York writer, a firefighter and many men whose obituaries ran in other states. None of them can be connected to this death. His unusual middle name, Nicoly, has not led to any other record about him.
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.
At 17 he was still a minor, an age when most young people are still in high school and living with family. Somewhere there were parents, relatives, classmates or teachers who knew him and who were left without answers, but none of their voices have reached the public record.
Baltic Avenue is a residential street on the west side of Long Beach, an area of modest single-family homes and small apartment buildings near the Los Angeles River and the industrial land around the Port of Long Beach. Many of its residents are working families.
The Long Beach Police Department, which runs its own homicide detail separate from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, took responsibility for the case. 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 Joseph Nicoly Mitchell could be found in news archives or public records. More than 23 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who knew a 17-year-old named Joseph Mitchell from West Long Beach, or who was near the 2500 block of Baltic Avenue in mid-October 2002, 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).
