An elderly California man accused of terrorizing his community for years with a slingshot has died just days after being arrested, police said.
Authorities discovered 81-year-old Prince King unresponsive on Wednesday while performing a wellness check at a home in Azusa, just east of Los Angeles, police Sgt. Nick Covarrubias told the Los Angeles Daily News. He was pronounced dead on the scene.
“We didn’t find any evidence of foul play,” Covarrubias added.
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office described the manner of death as “natural.” He died from atherosclerosis, also known as atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. The condition occurs when fats, cholesterol and other substances build up on the artery walls, per the Mayo Clinic.
King was arrested on May 23 after a “lengthy” investigation into what police called a “quality of life issue” along the 900 block of Enid Avenue in Azusa. For nearly a decade, residents in the area have reported damage to cars and house windows, forcing them to shell out hundreds for repair work.
Some have also said they themselves were nearly struck by small pellets, which have turned up in yards across the neighborhood for years.
Authorities ultimately concluded the small community had fallen victim to a “serial slingshot shooter.” While police have been investigating the matter for years, they were only recently able to pinpoint a suspect.
Officers used the locations where damage occurred to narrow their search and determined most of the ball bearings were launched from King’s backyard. They then surveilled the house until they witnessed King using his slingshot.
A search of his residence turned up “ball bearings and a slingshot,” police said.
Azusa police Lt. Jake Bushey said authorities were “not aware of any kind of motive other than just malicious mischief.”
King was released on his own recognizance following his arraignment Tuesday at West Covina Superior Court, where he pleaded not guilty to five counts of felony vandalism and two counts of misdemeanor vandalism. The charges stemmed from incidents between October 2021 and May 2024.
“We’ve been here since 2018. (It’s been) ongoing all that time,” said James Mead, one of the neighborhood residents identified as a victim in the case.
Mead has had four windows broken on four different occasions. He noted that there was also a broken window on the home back when they first moved in.
“To me, it seems to be a really good neighborhood,” Mead told the Los Angeles Daily News, “except for windows being broken.”
