Darren Ray Ervin was 40 years old when he died on Tuesday, January 1, 2002, in Westmont, in South Los Angeles County. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at 1327 W. 107th St. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles Police Department Southeast Division case.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report recorded his death in a single sentence drawn from coroner's records. It described him as "a 40-year-old black male" who "died Tuesday, Jan. 1, after being stabbed in Westmont." He died on New Year's Day, although the record does not say whether he was attacked on the holiday itself or in the hours before it. The entry gave a residential street address, but it did not say whether he lived there or was visiting. 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 Darren Ray Ervin 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. Darren Ervin is not a rare name, and searches turn up a college football player from Texas and several men listed as sons, fathers or pallbearers in obituaries in West Virginia, Missouri, Mississippi and the Carolinas. None of them can be connected to the man who died in Westmont.
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.
Westmont is a largely residential, unincorporated community in South Los Angeles County, made up of modest single-family homes and small apartment buildings on numbered streets. Much of it is policed by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, but the Times listed this case under the LAPD's Southeast Division, which suggests the address may have been close to the city line. The record does not explain which agency handled the investigation in practice.
Homicides in Los Angeles rose sharply in the early 2000s, climbing past 600 in 2002, and detectives carried heavy caseloads. Many killings from those years were never solved.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Darren Ray Ervin 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 was on or near West 107th Street on New Year's Eve or New Year's Day of 2002, or who knew a 40-year-old man named Darren Ervin in the area, may hold information that could help detectives. 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). Because the address lies in an unincorporated area, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau, at 323-890-5500, may also be able to take information.
