A felon charged with four murders in four days in Los Angeles and San Dimas, about 30 miles northeast of Los Angeles, pleaded not guilty Feb. 26.
Victims of the alleged shooting rampage by Jerrid Joseph Powell, 33, were three homeless men and a Los Angeles County employee, all shot and killed between Nov. 26 and Nov. 29, according to authorities.
Mr. Powell was arrested Nov. 30 in connection with the fatal follow-home robbery and murder two days earlier of Nicholas Simbolon, a project manager in the L.A. County chief executive’s office, who was shot dead after arriving at his San Dimas residence.
Beverly Hills police had done a traffic stop of Mr. Powell because his car was linked to the shooting, the L.A. Times reported
Mr. Powell is accused of following Mr. Simbolon from a charging station in West Covina to his San Dimas home, fatally shooting him and taking his personal belongings, the L.A. District Attorney said in a Dec. 4 statement.
Days after the arrest, Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore and County Sheriff Robert Luna announced that they believed Mr. Powell was also linked to the shootings of three homeless men.
According to the L.A. Times, the first of the homeless victims was Jose Bolanos, 37, shot dead while asleep on a couch in a Vermont Vista alley early Nov. 26. The next day, Mark Diggs, 62, was slain on an Arts District street. On Nov. 29. Shawn Alvarez, 52, was killed in Lincoln Heights.
A handgun found in Mr. Powell’s vehicle was used in the homeless killings, Chief Moore said.
Sheriff Luna said the gun is also believed to be the weapon that killed Mr. Simbolon. There is no known connection between Mr. Powell and the victims, Mr. Luna added.
Mr. Powell also faces charges of residential robbery and being a felon with a concealed firearm, and remains in jail without bail. He could be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.
Mr. Powell will next appear in court April 24 for a hearing on whether there is enough evidence to try him.
