Ming Yang was 53 years old when he died on Friday, January 31, 2020, in Monterey Park, in the western San Gabriel Valley. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds in the 1100 block of College View Drive. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Monterey Park Police Department case.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report described him as "a 53-year-old Asian male" who "died Friday, Jan. 31, after being stabbed near the 1100 block of College View Drive in Monterey Park." A short news report published by MyNewsLA a week later added more. It said he "was found stabbed to death in his Monterey Park residence" and that he was found dead "about 5:50 a.m. Friday," according to the coroner's office and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
According to that report, Monterey Park police officers went to the building on a "loud music disturbance" call, and a person told them that a man was dead inside.
Officers "entered the building and found Yang lying unresponsive on the floor," the report said, and he had suffered multiple stab wounds. A sheriff's spokesman, Deputy James Nagao, said one person was detained for questioning. The report added that "information was not available on whether anyone had been arrested," and it asked anyone with information to call the Sheriff's Homicide Bureau, which suggests the Sheriff's Department was handling the investigation alongside the city police.
No later report about the case could be found. The record does not say who made the call about the music, who told officers about the body, or what became of the person who was questioned. It also does not say whether he lived alone, whether he knew his attacker or how long he had been dead when he was found. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser for him could be found. Ming Yang is a very common name, and searches turn up doctors, professors and many others who share it, none of whom can be tied to this death.
Monterey Park is a city of about 60,000 people a few miles east of downtown Los Angeles. In the late twentieth century it became one of the first suburban cities in the United States with an Asian American majority, and it is known for its Chinese restaurants, bakeries and shopping centers, which draw visitors from across the region. It is also home to East Los Angeles College. Monterey Park has its own police department.
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 Ming Yang could be found in news archives or public records. More than five years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who lived on or near College View Drive in Monterey Park in January 2020, or who heard or saw anything there in the early hours of January 31, 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 Sheriff's Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500, the number given in the 2020 news report, or contact the Monterey Park Police Department, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
