Killing of Christian Prince

Christian Haley Prince (July 8, 1971 – February 17, 1991) was a Yale University sophomore, a fourth-generation Yale student and member of the class of 1993, living in Pierson College. On the evening of February 16, 1991, Prince dined at Mory's and attended a party at Sterling-Sheffield-Strathcona Hall before leaving to walk to his off-campus apartment on Whitney Avenue, planning to rest ahead of lacrosse practice the next day. He was found dead of a gunshot wound to the heart on the steps of St. Mary's Church on Hillhouse Avenue in the early morning hours of February 17, 1991. His killing was the first murder of a Yale student on campus since the 1974 murder of Gary Stein near Grove Street Cemetery.

Prince's death drew significant public attention. More than 1,000 people attended his funeral in Washington, D.C., where his brother Ted, a Yale graduate, delivered the eulogy. The case was linked to a short-term decline in applications to Yale, and it contributed to strained town-gown relations during the tenure of Yale president Benno Schmidt, who resigned the following year after a six-year term marked by numerous difficulties. In the aftermath, Yale spent millions of dollars on security improvements, including new emergency phones, upgraded lighting, an expanded university police department, and a newly created security force.

In May 1991, James Duncan Fleming was arrested in connection with Prince's murder following a tip from Randy Fleming, an unrelated acquaintance of James Fleming. Under oath, Randy Fleming initially told police that he and James Fleming had wanted money to attend a rap performance, that James Fleming suggested robbing a white victim, that James Fleming confronted Prince at gunpoint and took his wallet, then pistol-whipped him, made a threatening statement, and fired the fatal shot before fleeing and dropping the wallet.

At James Fleming's trial a year later, Randy Fleming recanted his earlier statements, alleging that police had coerced him into lying. The jury convicted James Fleming of conspiracy to commit robbery but acquitted him of murder, and it failed to reach a verdict on charges of felony murder and attempted robbery. A second jury acquitted James Fleming of those remaining charges in March 1993. James Fleming was sentenced to nine years in prison for conspiracy to commit robbery.