Gregory Bruce Hering was 70 years old when he died on Tuesday, June 8, 2021, in Inglewood. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at a location described as south of Century Boulevard and east of the 405 Freeway. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a case of the California Highway Patrol's West Los Angeles office.
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 white male" who "died Tuesday, June 8, after being stabbed near the S/O Century Boulevard & east of 405 Freeway in Inglewood." The abbreviation "S/O" means south of. Stabbings are rarely handled by the Highway Patrol, which usually investigates crimes on freeways and state property, so the agency listing suggests he may have been found on or beside the freeway, but the public record does not say so.
Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Gregory Bruce Hering 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. The name Gregory Hering appears in obituaries and family notices from Alabama, Ohio and Oregon, and none of those men can be connected to this death. No news outlet appears to have reported the killing at all.
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.
Inglewood is a city of about 100,000 people in the southwestern part of Los Angeles County, just east of Los Angeles International Airport. Century Boulevard is the main road leading to the airport, lined with hotels, parking lots and businesses that serve travelers, and the 405 Freeway, one of the busiest highways in the country, crosses it near the city's western edge. The area around the interchange carries heavy traffic day and night. In recent years Inglewood has drawn attention as the home of SoFi Stadium, which opened in 2020, and of the Forum. A death beside such a heavily traveled road may have been seen by drivers who did not realize what they had witnessed.
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 Gregory Bruce Hering could be found in news archives or public records. More than four years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who knew a 70-year-old man named Gregory Hering, or who was near Century Boulevard and the 405 Freeway in Inglewood in early June 2021, 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 California Highway Patrol, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
