Stacy Lynn Baker was 26 years old when she died on Sunday, June 23, 2002, in Granada Hills, in the northern San Fernando Valley. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, she died of stab wounds at 10636 Woodley Ave. Her death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles Police Department Devonshire Division case.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report recorded her death in a single sentence drawn from coroner's records. It described her as "a 26-year-old white female" who "died Sunday, June 23, after being stabbed in Granada Hills." It gave no other details about what happened.
A little more can be pieced together from other records. A memorial page on Find a Grave gives her birth date as Oct. 7, 1975, and her date of death as June 23, 2002, which matches the coroner's record.
It shows that she was buried at Santa Barbara Cemetery, which suggests that she may have had family ties to Santa Barbara, although the page does not say so.
The Sundial, the student newspaper of California State University, Northridge, also took note of her death. A fragment of the article that survives in the university's digital archive says that "CSUN alumna Stacy Lynn Baker was kil[l]ed in her Granada Hills home June 23." That line tells us two things the coroner's entry does not: that she was a graduate of the university, and that she was attacked in her own home rather than on the street. Only a few lines of that article could be found for this story, and the surviving fragment does not show what the newspaper went on to report about the investigation, whether anyone was arrested, or whether a case was ever filed in court.
Much about her remains unknown to the public. The records do not say what she studied at CSUN, what work she did after graduating, how long she had lived on Woodley Avenue, who found her, or whether she lived alone. No obituary written by her family could be found for this story, and searches for her name are crowded with other women named Stacy Lynn Baker in Florida, Georgia, Colorado, Kentucky and elsewhere. She surely had family and friends, from Granada Hills to Santa Barbara, who remember her, but their memories have not entered the public record.
Granada Hills is a largely residential community in the northern San Fernando Valley, known for its tree-lined streets, ranch-style homes and apartment complexes. It lies a short drive from the CSUN campus in Northridge, and many students and graduates of the university have made their homes in the area.
Homicides in Los Angeles rose sharply in the early 2000s, climbing past 600 in 2002, and detectives carried heavy caseloads. Many killings from those years were never solved.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Stacy Lynn Baker could be found in news archives or public records. More than 23 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who knew Stacy at CSUN or in Granada Hills, or who was near the 10600 block of Woodley Avenue in late June 2002, 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 call the Los Angeles Police Department at 877-527-3247 (877-LAPD-24-7), or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477).
