Ex-NFL player Kevin Johnson's death may be linked to other homicides near L.A. County homeless encampments

The death last month of former NFL player Kevin Johnson is possibly connected to three other killings of unhoused people in the same area that occurred over the last four months, Los Angeles County detectives said Tuesday. 

The 55-year-old Johnson, an L.A.-native who played with the Philadelphia Eagles and Oakland Raiders in the 1990s, was found dead on Jan. 21 at an encampment in the 1300 block of E. 120th Street in the unincorporated community of Willowbrook, near Compton. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner said that he died from "blunt head trauma and stab wounds."

"Between October 2025 and January 2026, four homicides occurred in this area and remain under active investigation by the Homicide Bureau," the L.A. County Sheriff's Department said a news release. "At this time, investigators are working to determine whether these cases are related."

Detectives say that all four of the victims were unhoused people who were living in encampments in the same vicinity. 

A week after Johnson was killed, detectives were again called to the same area after a man was found dead near the flood control channel. 

There was no information immediately available on the two other deaths that happened prior to January.

"Homicide investigators continue to pursue all investigative leads and remain committed to identifying the individual or individuals responsible for these crimes," the release said. 

Anyone who has further information was urged to contact LASD's Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500.