A man who once prompted Billie Eilish to seek a restraining order after repeatedly appearing outside her Los Angeles home has died after being struck by a Long Island Rail Road train.
According to Vice, Prenell Rousseau, 30, was hit by an eastbound LIRR train in Westbury, New York, at approximately 5:38 a.m. on Wednesday, March 25. Rousseau, a Farmingville resident, was reportedly jogging near the tracks when the collision occurred. Law enforcement sources told local media that investigators believe the incident was accidental.
The death immediately resurfaced Rousseau’s connection to Eilish, whose family spent days dealing with him outside their home in May 2020. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Rousseau allegedly appeared at the property seven separate times over a two-day period.
Surveillance footage and court filings show that he repeatedly rang the bell, paced outside the gate, and refused to leave even after Eilish’s father told him through an intercom that he had the wrong address.
When Rousseau returned later that night, Eilish’s family called private security. According to the singer’s restraining-order filing, he remained on the porch while waiting for them to arrive.
“While we waited for security, Mr. Rousseau remained on our porch, sat down and began to read a book while also continuing to engage in a periodic monologue,” Eilish wrote in court documents. “My father repeatedly asked him to leave, but he refused.”
Eilish also told the court that Rousseau’s behavior felt especially alarming because he repeatedly touched the home’s gate, doorknob, and doorbell without gloves or a face covering during the pandemic. She described his conduct as “erratic behavior,” and he was ultimately arrested on trespassing charges. A judge later granted the singer a three-year restraining order.
Three years later, Eilish obtained another restraining order against a different man, 53-year-old Shawn Christopher McIntyre. McIntyre sent hundreds of messages to Eilish and her relatives, professing love for the singer while also making violent threats against her brother, Finneas. Eilish said he eventually located her address and showed up outside the home in a pattern that closely mirrored Rousseau’s earlier visits.
The Long Island Rail Road is one of the nation’s busiest commuter systems and one with a long history of headline-making incidents. The railroad has been tied to tragedies ranging from the 1993 mass shooting aboard a train near New Hyde Park to several fatal track accidents in recent years. In 2021 alone, the LIRR reported eight deaths along its system.
About 100 passengers were aboard the train that struck Rousseau. They were transferred to another train and continued their trip after the scene was cleared.
