Investigators are seeking to discover whether four murders of homeless people in Los Angeles between October and January are connected, according to officials.
According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide Bureau, the deaths took place in the same approximate region, the 1300 block of East 120th Street in Los Angeles’ unincorporated area.
One of the killings was former NFL player Kevin Johnson, who was discovered dead on Jan. 21 at a homeless encampment, according to local ABC News affiliate KABC. Johnson, 55, was stabbed and suffered blunt force trauma, according to reports. Officials said all four victims lived in homeless encampments.
All four murders remain under active investigation.
According to individuals close to the investigation, the Compton Creek killings began on October 5, 2025, when a lady, 52-year-old Michelle Steele, was shot in the head. She died at the hospital on November 12, 2025, they reported.
Three weeks later, on December 4, a homeless man named Octavio Arias, 52, was murdered in the same neighborhood, according to KABC. Arias died of head and neck injuries, according to L.A. County Medical Examiner records.
Following Johnson’s murder, the fourth victim was identified as Mauro Alfaro, who was also in his fifties. Alfaro died on January 26 from blunt force injuries, according to KABC sources.
According to KABC, investigators are now looking into the likelihood that all four murders were carried out by the same culprit. According to authorities at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau, no suspect has been identified.
Detectives are currently investigating the deaths to establish whether the culprit is someone who is outraged about the presence of homeless people in the area or if narcotics or gangs are involved, sources told KABC. Sources say there is no substantial proof linking the instances together.
Johnson played for the Philadelphia Eagles and the Oakland Raiders between 1995 and 1997, according to KABC.
