Monticello Murrell Stephens, 50, was shot and killed in the early morning hours of March 7, 2020, in the 5300 block of Van Ness Boulevard in Hyde Park, Los Angeles. According to the Medical Examiner-Coroner, Stephens was working under a blue Dodge pickup when three people approached; one began shooting and the group fled on foot. A passerby found Stephens hours later and he was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said Stephens did not have gang affiliations.

Stephens had a prior federal conviction and was sentenced to 138 months for armed robbery of a credit union and using a firearm during a crime of violence, a matter decided by the Ninth Circuit in 1997.

Anyone with information about what happened that night in Hyde Park is asked to contact investigators.