A man suspected in four killings across Los Angeles County is due to make his first court appearance Monday.
Convicted felon Jerrid Joseph Powell, 33, of Los Angeles was taken into custody last week in connection with the shooting deaths of three homeless victims and the follow-home killing of a man in San Dimas.
The three homeless victims were killed in different L.A.-area neighborhoods between Nov. 26 and Nov. 29 while they were either sleeping or about to lie down, officials said.
Los Angeles Police Department Chief Michel Moore described a video he saw of one of the killings as “chilling.”
There was no apparent motive and the shooter did not even interact with the victims before shooting them, Moore said.
On Tuesday of last week, Powell allegedly followed 42-year-old Nicholas Simbolon to his San Dimas home, took a few items from Simbolon’s garage, and then fatally shot him.
Surveillance video spotted the license plate of a 2024 BMW, which was entered into an automatic license plate reader.
The vehicle was spotted in Beverly Hills last Wednesday, where authorities took Powell into custody and found a gun linked to all four shootings, according to officials.
“We know there’s controversy out there about the usage of this system, but let me tell our community something,” Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Chief Robert Luna said at a news conference announcing the arrest.
“If we did not enter that plate into the system, this individual that we believe is responsible for at least four murders may have [still] been out there and reoffended,” Luna said.
Powell was booked on murder and robbery charges and is being held on $2 million bail.
He is scheduled to appear in court sometime after 8:30 a.m.