Fontaine Jack Collins was 90 years old when he was killed on Saturday, Nov. 17, 2012, in Vermont Vista, in South Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at 555 W. 92nd St. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles Police Department Criminal Gang and Homicide Division case.
The coroner's records describe him as a Black man. The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report, which identified him as Fontaine Collins, gave a short account of how he was found. "Collins' niece discovered him seated inside his one-bedroom apartment, slumped over in front of his television," the report said. Preliminary coroner's records showed that he "suffered blunt force trauma to his head, as well as a stab wound to the chest." The report added that no other details were immediately available about the slaying.
Those few lines describe a man who was attacked at home, in his own chair.
The account does not say when the niece last saw him, how long he may have been there before he was found, whether the door was locked or forced, or whether anything was missing from the apartment. The combination of a head injury and a stab wound suggests he may have been struck as well as stabbed, but the record does not say what was used or in what order the injuries came. It does not say whether he lived alone, although a one-bedroom apartment suggests he may have.
Beyond that report, almost nothing about his life has been made public. No obituary or memorial page that can be tied to him with certainty could be found for this story. Searches for his name led mostly to novels with a character named Fontaine and to other families named Collins. A man who lived to 90 would have seen most of the twentieth century and surely left behind relatives, friends and neighbors who remember him, but none of their memories have entered the public record.
Vermont Vista is a neighborhood in South Los Angeles, made up mostly of small single-family homes and apartment buildings, with Vermont Avenue as its main commercial street.
The case was assigned to the LAPD's Criminal Gang and Homicide Division, a specialized unit that handles some killings in South Los Angeles. The assignment by itself does not show that investigators believed the killing was gang-related.
Homicides in Los Angeles fell steeply in the late 2000s and early 2010s, yet many killings from those years were never solved.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Fontaine Jack Collins could be found in news archives or public records. More than 13 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who lived in or visited the apartment building at 555 W. 92nd St. in November 2012, or who knew Fontaine and the people who came to see him, may hold information that could help detectives. The Homicide Report asked anyone with information to contact the LAPD at 275-5273. Even a small detail, such as a name overheard, a vehicle seen nearby or a conversation remembered, can help detectives move a case forward. Anyone with information can call the Los Angeles Police Department at 877-527-3247 or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
