A man was found beaten to death in a Hollywood Hills home of Canadian media personality George Stroumboulopoulos early Friday morning after police investigated reports of a robbery.
According to a report by KABC, the man was found shortly after 2:00 a.m.
Los Angeles police said he died of blunt force trauma and identified him as 41-year-old Richard Hong, an actor originally from Montreal who was living in Los Angeles. He was a graduate of Lower Canada College, Dawson College and Concordia University.
Photo via Instagram
Hong's sister took to Facebook to express her shock at his death.
"I lost my brother today. He shall forever be missed. He had such a sweet, pure & free loving spirit. He was too young to be taken so soon. I love you Richard!" she said.
A male assailant was seen running from the scene. The suspect is described as a black male, about 5'8" tall with a thin build who was wearing a black jacket and dark pants. Police are interviewing witnesses.
Stroumboulopoulos told KABC he was in New York City at the time and was unaware of the incident. Though he initially said he did not know the victim, in a Facebook post, the TV host called him "a dear friend."
The residence where the victim was found is a rental property.
"We have cameras attached to our building, so we said we might pull those and check them out," said neighbor George McLachlan. "Hopefully we can find some justice and figure out how to secure Whitley Heights and not have this issue again."
