He was on the verge of TikTok superstardom.
At least, that’s what Matthew Price was hoping for as he raised his profile among magic and comedy circles around Los Angeles.
But his sudden murder in South LA ended every dream he ever had.
Seeking Justice: Click here for more coverage.
Get top local stories in Southern California delivered to you every morning. >Sign up for NBC LA's News Headlines newsletter.
“I don’t know how I feel right now,” his mother, Danuta Richey says, after traveling from their hometown near Ft. Myers, Florida to 78th and Broadway, Los Angeles, where the 27-year-old Price died of a single gunshot wound.
“You just never know how quickly life can end,” she says through tears. “And it changes everything. Everything.”
LAPD South Bureau Homicide Officer Patrick Farmer was there the night Price was killed, Nov. 21, 2021. There happened to be a street festival happening nearby. Broadway was closed off for it. Price had gone to a nearby market for a few snacks and was walking back to his shared apartment.
Local
Get Los Angeles's latest local news on crime, entertainment, weather, schools, COVID, cost of living and more. Here's your go-to source for today's LA news.
“There was people walking around, there was a street fair on Broadway in the area,” Officer Farmer says. "He was walking back to his house, we have the surveillance video but no indication why he was shot.”
The surveillance video shows Price walking across 78th Street, a couple others walking on the sidewalk nearby. The flash from the gun is too faint to make out, but the collapse from Price is evident as he falls and writhes in pain. He was shot in the leg and would later bleed out.
Paramedics took him to the hospital where doctors tried to save him.
The hardest part is knowing there’s a limit to the pictures and videos we have of him, and it’s a shocking feeling because we can’t make new ones.
Matthew Price's sister, Brianna
“He pronounced him dead,” Richey recalls from the conversation with a doctor. "And I had to call my daughter and tell her that her brother, her best friend died.”
Price’s sister, Brianna, says she had just given birth to her first child only four days before her brother’s murder. A baby, she says, he never got to meet.
Brianna says she hopes to share her brother’s life and memory through the many videos he created online.
“He kept a very good online presence so we do have all those videos and memories with him,” she says, “Whenever I think about that, the hardest part is knowing there’s a limit to the pictures and videos we have of him, and it’s a shocking feeling because we can’t make new ones.”
The family has since started a non-profit foundation in Matthew’s name to help others seeking out Hollywood magic called "One Matt Price Foundation." Matthew had been in LA only five years, already connecting with some of his favorites in the biz and sharing photos of him with the likes of Bob Saget, Jay Leno and Penn and Teller.
“Typical LA story coming from out of state trying to get into Hollywood as an actor/comedian,” Officer Farmer points out, noting the area where Price was killed is a known to have a strong gang connection.
Price’s mother still sobs at the thought of what happened.
“Never in a million years did I ever think it would happen to me and my family,” she says. “Anytime a life is taken like this, the whole family mourns, the whole family changes, the dynamic changes, it’s never the same now.”
LAPD is hoping a $50,000 reward will lead to the shooter, believed to be someone still living in the same neighborhood. Anyone with information can call LAPD South Bureau Homicide at 323-786-5113 or they can make anonymous tips by calling LA CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
