Melvin Vincent Allen was 70 years old when he died on Friday, September 14, 2001, in Adams-Normandie, in South Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at 2712 S. Hobart Blvd. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a case of the Los Angeles Police Department's Southwest Division.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report recorded his death in a single sentence drawn from coroner's records. It described him as "a 70-year-old black male" who "died Friday, Sept. 14, after being stabbed in Adams-Normandie." The entry gave a residential street address, but it did not say whether that was his home, the home of someone he knew or simply the place where he was found. No follow-up story appears to have been written.
Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Melvin Vincent Allen 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. Melvin Allen is a common name, and searches turn up a famous sportscaster and many men whose obituaries were published in New Jersey, New Mexico, Utah, Louisiana and Alabama, none of whom can be connected to this death.
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 70, he was far older than most homicide victims, and the killing of a man of his age would ordinarily stand out. Yet he died three days after the September 11 attacks, when news coverage everywhere was consumed by the events in New York and Washington, and his death appears to have passed without any public notice beyond the coroner's record.
Adams-Normandie is a small neighborhood in South Los Angeles, named for the crossing of Adams Boulevard and Normandie Avenue. It is part of the historic West Adams area, known for its early twentieth-century houses, many of them Craftsman bungalows, along with apartment buildings and churches. The neighborhood lies a short distance west of the University of Southern California, and in 2001 it was policed by the Southwest Division.
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 Melvin Vincent Allen could be found in news archives or public records. More than 24 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who lived on or near South Hobart Boulevard in September 2001, or who knew a 70-year-old man named Melvin Allen in the West Adams area, 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).
