Lonnie Jay Franklin III was 24 years old when he died on Saturday, Oct. 21, 2000, in Pacoima. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at 12650 W. Pierce St. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a case of the Los Angeles Police Department's Foothill Division.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report recorded his death in a single sentence drawn from coroner's records. It described him as "a 24-year-old black male" who "died Saturday, Oct. 21, after being stabbed in Pacoima." The entry gave an address on Pierce Street, but it did not say whether that was his home 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 Lonnie Jay Franklin III 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. Searches for his name are crowded out by coverage of a different man with a similar name, the South Los Angeles serial killer Lonnie David Franklin Jr., and nothing in any record connects that case 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.
Pacoima is a neighborhood in the northeast San Fernando Valley, between Sylmar, Arleta and the city of San Fernando. It is home to Whiteman Airport and is known as the hometown of the singer Ritchie Valens. For much of the twentieth century it was one of the few places in the Valley where Black families could buy homes, and it grew into a largely Latino community while keeping a long-standing Black population. Its streets are lined mostly with modest single-family houses, small apartment buildings and small businesses,.
A 24-year-old man in Pacoima in 2000 would likely have had friends from school, work or the neighborhood who knew where he spent his Saturday nights. Some of them may still remember what they heard after his death.
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 Lonnie Jay Franklin III could be found in news archives or public records. More than 25 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who knew Lonnie, who lived near the 12600 block of Pierce Street in October 2000, or who heard talk afterward of a stabbing there, 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).
