Amber Clark was 18 when she was murdered on September 13, 1990, in Clairemont, a neighborhood of San Diego. Her killing was one of a series attributed to the Clairemont Killer, a perpetrator who targeted young women in their homes and whose pattern included burglary and sexual assault.

The man later identified as Cleophus Prince Jr. moved into the Buena Vista Gardens apartment complex in December 1989; his crimes in 1990 involved several victims who lived in or near that complex. Prosecutors linked Prince Jr. to multiple slayings with circumstantial and forensic evidence, including DNA and stolen items found in his possession. He was tried and convicted on six counts of first-degree murder, including Amber Clark’s, and the jury returned a death sentence.