Randall Kraig Baker Jr. was 21 years old when he was stabbed to death in the early morning of Thursday, September 23, 2010, in Hawthorne. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds near Rosecrans and Inglewood avenues. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department homicide case, investigated together with the Hawthorne Police Department.
Baker, who lived in Los Angeles, was on his way home after a night out with friends, the Daily Breeze reported. He was riding in a car with another man and two women, and the car was stopped at the intersection at about 2:10 a.m. when an argument broke out with two men in a white Nissan Sentra. Sheriff's Lt. Dave Coleman told the Los Angeles Times that Baker got out and approached the other car, that "words were exchanged," and that the suspects stabbed him. He staggered back toward the car he had come in, collapsed and died in the street.
The suspects fled.
Sheriff's homicide Sgt. Mitch Loman said road rage was a possibility, but he did not know what set off the attack, and he said Baker was not a gang member. A witness, Denele Williams, told ABC7 that the people in the other car did not even speed away. "They drove around as if... you wouldn't have thought they did anything," she said. "So, that's kind of cold-hearted and calculated to me... We're looking for justice."
Family members described a hard-working young man. He held two jobs, one at Los Angeles International Airport and one at a check-cashing business, and he lived with his grandmother, June Heron, though he had planned to move into his own apartment in Long Beach that very day. "He was a good kid," Heron said. "He was very quiet. He liked playing dominos and cards with his friends." His mother, Sabrina Heron, said, "He's my only son." His sister, Brittany Thomas, told ABC7, "He didn't deserve this." A cousin, Ellaricia Chambers, said, "There's so many cameras... somebody's going to get caught, sooner or later." About two weeks later, a cousin on the Hawthorne Cougars football team dedicated a game to him, the night the team ended a 45-game losing streak.
Hawthorne is a city in the South Bay region of Los Angeles County, a few miles south of Los Angeles International Airport. Rosecrans and Inglewood avenues are both major roads, lined with shopping centers, gas stations, apartment buildings and small businesses, and traffic moves through the intersection at all hours.
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 Randall Baker Jr. could be found in news archives or public records. More than 15 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who was near Rosecrans and Inglewood avenues in Hawthorne in the early hours of September 23, 2010, or who later heard someone talk about a fight at that intersection, 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. At the time, investigators also asked callers to contact Hawthorne police at 310-349-2700. 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 (8477).
