Former NFL Player’s Stabbing Death May Be Linked to Other Killings at L.A. Homeless Encampments

By Blessing Nweke

The stabbing death of former NFL defensive lineman Kevin Johnson may be connected to three other killings involving homeless people in the same area of Los Angeles County, sheriff’s officials said Tuesday.

Johnson, 55, was found Jan. 21 at a homeless encampment along a flood control channel in the Willowbrook area of South Los Angeles. Deputies said he was suffering from head trauma, and county paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.

In a statement Tuesday night, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said three additional homeless people were killed along East 120th Street on the southwestern edge of the Willowbrook community, all at encampments lining the same channel. The homicides occurred between October and January and remain unsolved.

“All four victims were unhoused individuals who were living in encampments,” the department said. “Homicide investigators continue to pursue all investigative leads and remain committed to identifying the individual or individuals responsible for these crimes.”

Detectives are working with homeless outreach workers as part of the investigation and are urging anyone with information to come forward.

The county medical examiner determined Johnson’s cause of death was blunt head trauma and stab wounds, according to public case information. Investigators believe Johnson was homeless and living at the encampment, sheriff’s officials said last month.

Another homicide was reported near the same riverbed location along 120th Street on Jan. 26, when deputies responded to a report of a deceased person shortly after midnight. Paramedics also declared that victim dead at the scene, officials said. Dates and exact locations of the two other killings were not immediately released.

Johnson played in the NFL during the 1990s, primarily with the Philadelphia Eagles and the then-Oakland Raiders. Attempts to reach family members were unsuccessful Tuesday night.

In a statement previously reported by KTTV-TV, Johnson’s son, Brendan, described his father as “loving, caring and truly joyful,” adding that his spirit would live on through those he touched.

Friends have said Johnson may have suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a brain disease linked to repeated head injuries.

Willowbrook, located just south of Los Angeles and the Watts neighborhood, is home to Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital. The flood control channel along 120th Street is identified on county maps as Compton Creek.