Antonio Andre Prince was 36 years old when he died on Monday, February 21, 2005, in Vermont Vista, a neighborhood in South Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of stab wounds at 11170 S. Figueroa St. His death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Los Angeles Police Department case handled by the Southeast Division.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report described him as "a 36-year-old black male" who "died Monday, Feb. 21, after being stabbed in Vermont Vista." That short entry is nearly all that has been made public about his death. An online public records listing connects the name Antonio Andre Prince to an apartment at the same South Figueroa Street address, which suggests he may have been hurt at or near his own home, though no official source has said so.
Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Antonio Andre Prince has been made public.
No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for this story, and no news outlet appears to have reported on the death. He surely had family, friends or neighbors who remember who he was, but none of that has entered the public record.
Because so little has been released, even the basic circumstances remain unknown to the public. The record does not say whether he was stabbed during a fight or a robbery, attacked by a stranger or by someone he knew, or hurt indoors or on the street. It does not say what time of day he was hurt, whether he died at the scene or later at a hospital, whether anyone saw what happened, or whether investigators ever identified a suspect.
Searches for his name mostly turn up unrelated people, including a 13-year-old boy named Antonio Prince Rusk who died in Georgia in 2018 and several men named Antonio Prince in other states. None of them can be connected to the man who died on Figueroa Street.
Vermont Vista is a small residential neighborhood in South Los Angeles, made up largely of single family homes and small apartment buildings. Figueroa Street is one of the longest streets in the city, running from the northeast side through downtown and south through South Los Angeles toward the harbor area. In this part of the city it passes homes, churches, small markets and auto shops, and it runs close to the Harbor Freeway. The neighborhood falls within the area patrolled by the LAPD's Southeast Division.
Los Angeles still recorded roughly 480 to 520 homicides a year in the mid-2000s, and many of those killings were never solved.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Antonio Andre Prince could be found in news archives or public records. More than 20 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who knew Antonio Prince, or who lived on or visited South Figueroa Street in Vermont Vista in February 2005, may hold information that could help investigators. A relative, a friend or a neighbor who remembers him could also help fill in the story of who he was. 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 (877-LAPD-24-7), or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477).
