Investigators say the attack was targeted, but the motive and the meaning of the online messages remain unsettled.

LAFAYETTE, Calif. — A murder case in a quiet East Bay neighborhood has turned on a disturbing set of online posts after prosecutors accused 35-year-old David Swank Prince of killing 34-year-old Christopher Jaber with a hatchet on March 21 and then being found walking nearby.

The case matters now because prosecutors have described the killing as targeted while investigators continue sorting through signs that Jaber may have been singled out in advance. Public reports have focused on a Facebook account carrying Prince’s name, a post that identified Jaber by name and address, and a later comment asking for someone to kill him. Authorities have not publicly confirmed that Prince authored the posts, and they have not publicly explained the relationship, if any, between the two men.

According to the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office, the case began shortly before noon on March 21, when a relative of Jaber called 911 to report a suspicious person with a hatchet in the backyard area of the family property on Westminster Place. The caller said the person was trying to break into the accessory dwelling unit where Jaber lived. Officers arrived, found Jaber dead inside, and detained Prince a short distance away, prosecutors said. Neighbor Christina Coleridge later told local television reporters that a camera had captured a man in the area around the same time. She said the man appeared calm and unfamiliar to residents on the block.

The online material surfaced publicly after the killing. Reports from local stations said a Facebook account using Prince’s name posted on Feb. 19 that “Chris Jaber 34 aka the eye” lived at the Westminster Place address and called for “the chaos of the supernatural” to end. Another comment from the same account, posted days before the killing, said, “Can someone please kill this man.” Those posts were later deleted. That language has become one of the most striking parts of the public story, but it is also one of the least settled. Prosecutors and sheriff’s officials have not publicly said whether they verified who controlled the account, whether the victim had seen the posts, or whether police knew about them before the homicide.

What prosecutors have stated more clearly is the basic criminal case. Prince was charged with murder, and the district attorney’s office said the complaint includes an enhancement for use of a deadly weapon. A spokesperson for the office told the San Francisco Chronicle that prosecutors later added details alleging the weapon was a small hatchet and said Prince had a prior felony assault conviction that could count as a strike prior under California law. The same report said Prince could face up to 50 years in state prison if convicted on the current charges. Public reports also said he was being held at the Martinez Detention Facility, with bail figures in coverage ranging from $1 million to slightly above that level as the case developed.

The setting has added to the attention around the case. Lafayette is a wealthy suburban city where killings are rare, and local coverage described this as the first homicide there in about 20 years. That context has made the details feel especially jarring to neighbors who said they watched armed officers move through a cul-de-sac that does not usually see that kind of police response. ABC7 quoted Coleridge saying she was horrified to see officers running down the street with rifles. She also described Jaber as someone who rode his bike in the neighborhood and tried to talk with people nearby, giving residents a personal frame for the loss beyond the criminal allegations.

Even with the digital trail drawing headlines, major questions remain open. Investigators have not publicly described a motive. They have not said whether Prince and Jaber knew each other well, barely knew each other, or were strangers connected by something still unknown. Authorities also have not publicly explained why Jaber was referred to in the posts as “the eye,” whether that phrase had any meaning to either man, or whether more online messages are part of the investigation. Those unanswered points are likely to shape the next phase of the case as prosecutors decide whether to amend the complaint or add allegations tied to planning, intent, or prior threats.

The public picture, then, is of a homicide case built from two parallel tracks: the physical scene on Westminster Place and the digital record that appears to have pointed toward Jaber before he was killed. One track is already part of a filed murder charge. The other may become more important as investigators examine devices, accounts and witness statements. As of the latest public reports, Prince remained in custody and the case was still moving through early court proceedings in Contra Costa County.

Author note: Last updated April 18, 2026.