Boo Lee was 20 years old when he died early on Tuesday, July 31, 2007, in Rowland Heights, in the eastern San Gabriel Valley. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at 19715 Sirius Drive. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a case of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report described him as "a 21-year-old man of Asian descent" and said he "was stabbed to death at a party in the 19700 [block] of Sirius Drive in Rowland Heights about 1:46 a.m. Tuesday, July 31." The coroner's record lists his age as 20.
The report said he was not the only person hurt. "A second stabbing victim was taken to a hospital and listed in stable condition. The young man and the other victim were guests at the party and were attacked by a group of other partygoers, who fled after the assault."
That short account says a great deal.
The attack happened inside a gathering where many people were present, and it was carried out by several people rather than one, which suggests that a number of guests may have seen at least part of what happened or known who the attackers were. The surviving victim would also have been an important witness. Yet nothing about what those people told investigators has been made public, and the report did not say what started the confrontation.
An obituary kept by Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier lists a "Boo Kyung Lee" who was born on Sept. 3, 1986, and died on July 31, 2007. The date of death matches, and the birth date means he was 20 years old that night, the same age shown in the coroner's record. This appears to be his full name. The obituary page gives no further details about his family, his schooling or his work, and no news outlet appears to have written about him beyond the coroner's entry.
Boo Lee was a young man who had not yet reached his 21st birthday. He surely had family and friends who remember him, and some of them may have been at the party or heard about it in the days that followed, but their memories have not entered the public record.
Rowland Heights is an unincorporated community in the eastern San Gabriel Valley, along the Pomona Freeway near the Puente Hills. It is a largely residential area of hillside subdivisions and suburban streets, and it is well known across the region for the many Asian restaurants, bakeries and shopping centers along Colima Road. Because it is not an incorporated city, law enforcement there is handled by the Sheriff's 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 Boo Lee could be found in news archives or public records. More than 18 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who attended the party on Sirius Drive on the night of July 30 and the early morning of July 31, 2007, who heard talk about the fight afterward, or who knows who the group of partygoers who fled were, 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 (8477).
