Overview
- The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said four homicides in the Willowbrook area since October 2025 remain under active investigation as detectives assess whether the cases are related.
- Former NFL player Kevin Johnson, 55, was found dead on Jan. 21 at an encampment on the 1300 block of East 120th Street, and the medical examiner ruled his death a homicide caused by blunt head trauma and stab wounds.
- Other victims identified by records and sources include Michelle Steele, shot on Oct. 5, 2025, who died Nov. 12; Octavio Arias, killed Dec. 4 with head and neck trauma; and Mauro Alfaro, killed Jan. 26 with blunt force trauma.
- No suspect has been identified, and sources say investigators are weighing whether one perpetrator is responsible and are exploring motives that could include hostility toward unhoused people, drugs, or gang activity.
- Eight detectives are assigned to the case as outreach teams work the creek corridor to move vulnerable residents, and authorities are asking anyone with information to call the Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500.