America's Unidentified Police Brutality Victim.
IN AN ERA WHERE BLACK YOUNG MEN LIKE TRAYVON MARTIN, TAMAR RICE, FREDDIE GRAY, MICHAEL BROWN, AND MANY OTHERS FELL VICTIM TO POLICE BRUTALITY AND BECAME SYMBOLIC OF AN ONGOING SOCIAL MOVEMENT THAT IS BOTH SOCIAL AND INTERNATIONAL, ONE REMAINS FORGOTTEN UNTIL NOW.
DETAIL OF THE CASE
In the early morning of February 9, 1968, around 5:13 a.m. in Los Angeles, California.
Two police officers, Officer Charles Livingston and Officer Robert Hutton, allegedly saw the young man on 3870 S. Normandie Avenue attempting to break into a cleaning shop on the street.
The two cops then surprised the decedent, catching him in the act of trying to break in with the young man and then escaping from the cops who were trying to arrest him now in pursuit of him.
The young man then jumped into a trash barrel hoping to evade capture, but the police caught up to him and ordered him to get out of the trash barrel.
The man then jumped out of the trash barrel to escape the clutches of the two officers who were after him.
The young-would-be-unidentified decedent then attempted to climb a fence to escape the grasp of his pursuers only to meet the end of his life from the barrel of an official service pistol.
Both officers fired at the young man trying to escape them killing him in the process.
The young man was pronounced dead at the scene and reminded unidentified for 54 years as of 2022.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
The youth was between 15-20 years of age, Black, Male, 6'3 tall, and weight 156 lbs. He had black curly hair, brown eyes, and a small frame with small scars on unspecific knees and shins. His blood type was also "B".
CLOTHING - (NOTE: THE CLOTHING BELOW IS NOT THE ACTUAL CLOTHING FOUND WITH THE VICTIM BUT IS THE "BEST REPRESENTATION" OF WHAT WE BELIEVE HE WORE DURING THE INCIDENT)
Avocado-green sweater two-tone green knit turtleneck
shirt navy blue serge pants
olive green acetate socks reverse hide high-top soled shoes
light brown belt
white boxer shorts
LINK TO POSTMORTEM PHOTO OF DECEDENT (VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED)
ADDITIONAL ITEMS
Other apparels or personal items that were found with the victim are currently unknown...
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THIS CASE
Officer Charles Livingston was the one who fired the first shot at the young man who was trying to escape him while attempting to climb the fence.
Officer Robert Hutton fires a shot at the decedent thinking that he was being shot at by the escapee.
Based on the report, it is unclear which officer fired the fatal shot that killed the young man.
Also according to sources from the investigation, the young man "possibly" used the name "Randolph Houser" while in life.
OUR TAKE ON THE CASE
Understanding the climate of the racial tension at the time, especially in L.A., he was racially profiled by the two officers.
The youth was not a threat to the officers based on the attire he was wearing.
His attire would suggest that he may have been in the middle-class or suburbs - definitely not a hoodlum.
We can see the two officers on patrol in the early hours only to see the young man minding his business in the early morning to mess with him.
For all we know, the young man was minding his business, and here comes the big boys in blue to start trouble.
But when researching this case, some things don't add up at all.
First, this is coming from the word of the police officers and apparently, there were no witnesses to even witness this event occurring.
Was the boy trying to break into the shop?
Maybe he worked there and was trying to get in the shop for some reason that wasn't malicious or malice.
Maybe his family or relatives worked at the establishment and he had access to the storefront.
Maybe he was going for a walk and was near the shop for the cops to harass him.
Also, it's easy for someone to get scared by the boys in blues and run because of being black in America, and as a black person, you are often taught to a degree to sort of "fear the police" based on historical records of racism and violence from them.
Secondly, another good question is to think was the young man even from the area as to why he hasn't been identified?
He could have been visiting somebody in the area and happened to come across the wrong type of people - i.e. police officers - in the early morning.
From what he was wearing it seemed like he was coming possibly from a party or some sort of get-together as well.
He could've been on his way back home before being stopped by the officers.
Remember, it was never stated what personal items he had on him besides attire and bodily identifiers.
Lastly, another great question is the circumstances of his death why did the police have to shoot at him, to begin with?
We can see it was probably dark, with little to no light out, and is unsure if he had a weapon on him or not.
During that moment he was trying to climb the fence and heard a noise that indicated that he was pulling out his weapon to escape.
But if he had a weapon on him, wouldn't you think he would've used it on the police officers that were pursuing him?
He was trying to hop a fence to get away from them.
Don't forget the fatal shot that killed him.
How many times was he shot at by the police officers?
If you ever saw the young man's postmortem photo, you can tell he wasn't shot in the face.
But was their excessive amount of shots fired at him to bring him down?
It was never stated how many times they shot at him with the manner of death from the investigation stating that "there is no information confirming the ruling of the manner of the male's death."
This to us means that it is possible that the bullets didn't kill him and it still leaves the question as to how he died if he wasn't shot to death.
With all these lingering questions and discrepancies about the event, everything still leads to malice intent on the part of the officers.
SO WHAT DO YOU THINK TRULY HAPPENED ON THAT DAY?
DO YOU THINK THE OFFICERS SHOULD STILL FACE JUSTICE DESPITE NOT KNOWING THEIR CURRENT WHEREABOUTS OR FATE ONCE THE YOUNG DECEDENT IS IDENTIFIED?
ALSO, DO YOU KNOW WHO THIS MISSING YOUTH IS?
THIS HAS BEEN A "MISSING YOUTH - SPECIAL COVERAGE" FROM CREST BY TRIGGANATION.
AND REMEMBER, WE CAN'T FIND THE MISSING YOUTH WITHOUT YOU.
IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION ABOUT THE "1968 LOS ANGELES JOHN DOE/RANDOLPH HOUSER" CASE, PLEASE SEND THE INFORMATION TO:
County of Los Angeles Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner
ADDRESS
1104 North Mission Road Los Angeles, California 90033
COUNTY
Los Angeles County
MAIN PHONE
(323) 343-0512
WEBSITE
http://mec.lacounty.gov/wps/portal/mec
AGENCY CASE NUMBER
1968-01481
CASE OWNER
Betsy Magdaleno - Coroner Investigator (For Identifications)
IF YOU HAVE INFORMATION ABOUT THIS CASE OR FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE SENDING INFORMATION ABOUT IT TO THE POLICE - PLEASE SEND THE INFORMATION TO - trigganationreignsupreme@gmail.com
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