Torrance Basketball Coach Shot to Death in Hollywood

The varsity basketball coach at Bishop Montgomery High School in Torrance was found shot to death in Hollywood late Monday night.

Los Angeles police said a passing motorist found the body of Stirling Herbert Hart Jr., 31, lying in a gutter in the 5800 block of Fernwood Avenue shortly before midnight.

Detectives said Hart, who lived about a mile from where his body was found, had been shot in the head and his wallet was missing.

“We aren’t positive, but the apparent motive is robbery, based on the evidence at the scene,” Hollywood Division Detective Rick Jackson said.

At the Torrance school, where Hart was to have begun his first season as varsity basketball coach this year, stunned students knelt in prayer at noon Tuesday after the announcement of his death was read over the public address system.

The teacher’s widow, Annette, said her husband, who did not drive, occasionally worked so late in Torrance that he missed bus connections and stayed with friends in the area.

She said “it didn’t hit me” that anything was wrong until authorities informed her of her husband’s death. She said she began laughing in a nervous reaction. Then she called the school, hoping to be told that it was all a mistake, that her husband was there.

Later in the day, after reality set in, she called the couple’s favorite bar, the Sideshow in the 6800 block of Hollywood Boulevard, where her husband would frequently stop after his bus ride for a beer and several games of pinball.

She said employees of the bar, which is about a mile west of where the body was found, told her that Hart was last seen about 9 p.m. Monday talking with a man and a woman who said they were from San Bernardino.

“He left with them and I believe he was forced to go with them,” she said.

Police have not released any information about possible suspects.

Classes at Bishop Montgomery were canceled for the rest of the day Tuesday and tearful students talked in small groups before heading home. The basketball team met in seclusion in the school chapel for prayers.

“He always got 100% out of you,” said Arthur Houghtlin, 15, who was coached by Hart on the offensive line of the football team. “He was an all-around good guy. We always had fun around him.”

Erika Aldana, 13, a freshman, said she had recently interviewed Hart for the school newspaper, Knight Life.

“He was just a neat guy,” she began, bravely. But she was unable to continue and collapsed sobbing in the arms of her editor, Ann Ramirez, 17.

Students said Hart liked to joke a lot, but nevertheless insisted on high standards.

Cindy Mitchell, girls’ varsity basketball coach, said Hart frequently kidded with her about her feminist views and she would rebut with chides about his male chauvinist tendencies.

But the banter did not obscure a genuine respect, she said.

“He treated me as if I was coaching an equal varsity sport, which doesn’t always happen,” she said. “He was very respectful of our program . . . He was a great guy, dedicated to the max.”

In addition to this coaching duties, Hart, a graduate of California State University, Long Beach, taught social studies and U.S. history at the 1,620-student high school.

In 1983, Hart led Daniel Murphy High School’s varsity football team to a 6-3 season, the West Los Angeles school’s first winning season in more than a decade. As a result, he was named The Times’ Westside Coach of the Year.

Hart moved to Bishop Montgomery in 1985, where his devotion to making the teams work became a school byword.

Annette Hart said her husband’s professional ambitions in life were to teach and to coach high school basketball and football.

“He got his gratification out of the people he worked with--the kids,” she said. “He was good at what he did because he cared so much. He wanted to turn on the TV and one day see his kids make touchdowns and kick field goals and do all sorts of great things in the pros.”