On a cold February night in 1991, the life of Christian Haley Prince, a 19-year-old White male and a sophomore at Yale University, was cut short by a single bullet. The evening of February 16th began with Prince enjoying dinner at Mory's, a private club affiliated with Yale, followed by a party at Sterling-Sheffield-Strathcona Hall. Around 1 a.m. on February 17th, he left his friends, intending to walk back to his off-campus apartment on Whitney Avenue to rest before lacrosse practice the next
day. This decision, however, led him to the steps of St. Mary's Church on Hillhouse Avenue, where his journey would tragically end.
Just fifteen minutes after he parted from his friends, a graduate student discovered Prince's body on the church steps. He had been shot in the chest, the bullet piercing his heart. He was pronounced dead at Yale-New Haven Hospital at 2:05 a.m. His wallet, containing $46 and credit cards, was found across the street, seemingly dropped by his assailant in a hurried escape. The murder of the fourth-generation Yale student, a standout lacrosse player from Chevy Chase, Maryland, sent shockwaves through the university community and brought to the forefront the simmering racial and class tensions between the university and the city of New Haven.
The investigation into Prince's death led police to a 16-year-old New Haven resident named James Duncan Fleming. The break in the case came from a tip provided by Randy Fleming, a friend of James who was not related to him. In a taped statement to the police, Randy Fleming recounted the events of that night. He stated that he and James were looking for money to attend a rap concert, and James suggested they "stick up a cracker." According to Randy, they spotted Prince walking alone, and James confronted him with a pistol, demanding his money. After Prince handed over his wallet, James allegedly pistol-whipped him, causing him to fall. Randy Fleming told police that James then uttered, "I ought to shoot this cracker," before firing the fatal shot.
James Duncan Fleming was arrested in May 1991 and faced multiple charges, including first-degree murder, felony murder, attempted robbery, and conspiracy. However, the prosecution's case took a dramatic turn during the trial a year later when Randy Fleming recanted his entire statement, claiming that the police had coerced him into lying. Without their key witness's testimony and lacking substantial physical evidence, the jury's verdict was mixed. They acquitted Fleming of first-degree murder but convicted him of conspiracy to rob Prince. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on the charges of felony murder and attempted robbery. Following a second trial in March 1993, a new jury acquitted Fleming of the remaining charges. He was ultimately sentenced to nine years in prison for the conspiracy conviction.
