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LASD Probes Possible Link Between Ex-NFL Player Kevin Johnson’s Killing and Three Other Willowbrook Homicides

Detectives are exploring whether a cluster of unsolved encampment slayings along Compton Creek share a perpetrator.

Overview

  • Kevin Johnson, 55, was found Jan. 21 at a Willowbrook encampment with blunt head trauma and stab wounds; the medical examiner ruled his death a homicide.
  • The Sheriff’s Department says four homicides involving unhoused people occurred between October 2025 and January 2026 in the 1300 block of East 120th Street, all still unsolved.
  • Officials have not identified a suspect and are working with homeless outreach teams as they canvass the area for leads.
  • Local reporting names the other victims as Michelle Steele (shot Oct. 5; died Nov. 12), Octavio Arias (killed Dec. 4; head and neck trauma) and Mauro Alfaro (found Jan. 26; blunt force trauma).
  • Investigators urge tips to the LASD Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500 as additional units, including Century Station and Operation Safe Streets, support the probe.