By J Zoltak | City News Service
More than 10 years after a 75-year-old man was decapitated in his Inglewood apartment, a 42-year-old former neighbor who was tracked down in Youngstown, Ohio remained jailed in Los Angeles Friday awaiting his next court appearance.
The suspect, William Fowler, was located by a retired Los Angeles Police Department detective working with Inglewood police on the cold case investigation, Inglewood Police Department Capt. Neal Cochran told City News Service.
The headless body of Robert Hollis, who was legally blind and known to loved ones and neighbors as “Bojangles,” was found about 12:45 p.m. on June 18, 2015, when officers went to his home on the 800 block of Glenway Drive to assist county firefighters dispatched to check on his well-being, according to a statement from the Inglewood Police Department.
“Entry was made and IPD homicide investigators were later sent to the scene to conduct an investigation,” the statement said.
Family members were perplexed over who would have wanted to harm Hollis, whom they described as a sign artist and gospel singer who had “a kind and generous spirit.”
The family’s statement mentioned that Hollis was a husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather.
Nothing appeared to have been stolen from the apartment, they said.
Fowler, meanwhile, was arrested in June of 2025 and extradited to Los Angeles to face trial.
He remains jailed at the Men’s Central Jail with bail set at $2,020,000, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s online inmate records.
The Medical Examiner’s office confirmed Hollis was decapitated, and Cochran said his head has never been found. The motive for Hollis’ killing was unknown, the captain said.
Cochran said it is also unknown why Fowler allegedly committed such a grisly act as cutting off and taking Hollis’ head.
Investigators, “hope to find something at trial,” Cochran said in an email.
As for tracking down Fowler 10 years after the killing, Cochran credited a colleague he did not name.
“We hired an outstanding retired Los Angeles LAPD homicide detective who now works with us,” Cochran said. “He used various leads and technologies to track him down.”
Hollis’ next listed court date is on June 16, according to sheriff’s department inmate records, which includes court dates that are often subject to change.