Andre Clinton Bouvay Jr. was 30 years old when he died on Sunday, July 8, 2018, in Paramount. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds in the 8200 block of Elburg Street. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a case of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Homicide Bureau.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report recorded his death in a single sentence drawn from coroner's records. It described him as "a 30-year-old black male" who "died Sunday, July 8, after being stabbed in Paramount." The entry did not say how the stabbing began, whether he knew the person who attacked him, or whether he died at the scene or later at a hospital. No news story about the killing appears to have been published.
An online memorial page created in his name fills in a little more. It says Andre Bouvay Jr. "was born in Los Angeles on November 27, 1987," and that he died on July 8, 2018, "as a homicide victim."
"He leaves behind five daughters, his parents, and three siblings," the page says. "He is much loved and will always be remembered." Visitors to the page left short messages. One, signed on behalf of the family, begins "We love and miss you Andre" and promises that "our daughters" will remember him as a bright light in their lives. Another reads simply, "You shall never be forgotten!!!" A third visitor called him "my art buddy," which suggests that he had a creative side that friends still remember.
Bouvay is a rare surname, and as a junior he shared his full name with his father. Still, no newspaper obituary, court record or news report about his death could be found.
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.
Paramount is a small, densely built city in southeast Los Angeles County, near Long Beach. It is made up of modest single-family homes, apartment complexes and industrial businesses, and it is crossed by freeways and busy commercial boulevards. The city is known as the place where the Zamboni ice resurfacing machine was invented, at an ice rink that still operates there.
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 Andre Clinton Bouvay Jr. could be found in news archives or public records. More than seven years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. His daughters were left to grow up without him. Anyone who lived on or near Elburg Street in Paramount in July 2018, or who knew a 30-year-old man named Andre Bouvay, 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 contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
