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LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Arraignment was delayed Monday for a felon charged in the shooting deaths of three homeless men in Los Angeles, along with the follow-home robbery and slaying of an L.A. County employee in San Dimas -- all within a four-day period in late November.
Jerrid Joseph Powell, 33, of Los Angeles, remains jailed without bail, facing four counts of murder and one count each of residential robbery and a felon carrying a concealed firearm.
The murder charges include the special circumstance allegations of multiple murders and murder during the commission of a robbery -- the latter involving the Nov. 28 killing of county employee Nicholas Simbolon. The charges also include allegations that Powell personally used a handgun during the commission of the crimes, and that he has a 2015 conviction from San Bernardino County for assault.
Powell could face life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted as charged.
He was due to be arraigned Monday, but sheriff's officials said he refused to come out of his cell. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Kimberley Baker Guillemet rescheduled the hearing for Thursday.
Los Angeles Police Department Chief Michel Moore and Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna announced Dec. 2 that authorities had linked Powell to the fatal shootings of three homeless men following his Nov. 30 arrest in connection with the killing of Simbolon, who worked as a project manager in the Los Angeles County executive office.
A handgun recovered from Powell's vehicle was used in the three homeless killings, the LAPD chief said.
"Our detectives worked closely with sheriff's investigators and our forensics services overnight. The result of their work has positively identified the handgun recovered from Mr. Powell's car as being the murder weapon of our three homicides," he said.
The sheriff said that Beverly Hills police conducted a traffic stop of Powell's vehicle, and that Powell was arrested early Nov. 30. Luna said the vehicle was linked to Powell after the San Dimas killing, which occurred just before 7 p.m. Nov. 28 in the garage of a home in the 1800 block of Hawkbrook Drive.
The first homeless killing occurred around 3 a.m. Nov. 26 in the 800 block of West 110th Street in the Westmont area near Watts, followed by another at about 5 a.m. Nov. 27 in the 600 block of Mateo Street near downtown, and another at 2:30 a.m. Nov. 29 at South Avenue 18 and South Pasadena Avenue near Lincoln Heights, Moore said.
"Each of the victims were in an open area, be it a sidewalk or alley, they were alone," Moore said previously. "We believe a single individual approached each one and shot and killed each one as they slept. The investigators have gathered physical evidence as well as video images and we've identified this possible male lone individual as well as a vehicle."
The County of Los Angeles Medical Examiner's Office announced last month that medical examiners had noticed a trend of recent cases in which unhoused people who were sleeping on the sidewalk had been approached and shot, saying that they notified two separate LAPD homicide bureaus of a potential pattern.
"I am proud of the work my staff did to aid the justice system in apprehending a suspect who likely had intentions to do more harm to such a vulnerable population," Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Odey Ukpo said in a statement released last month.
According to the chief and the county medical examiner's office, the victim in the first shooting Nov. 26 was Jose Bolanos, 37, who died from a gunshot wound to the head. Mark Diggs, 62, died on a sidewalk from a gunshot wound to the head, and Shawn Alvarez, 52, died on a sidewalk Nov. 29 of multiple gunshot wounds, according to records from the medical examiner's office.
Simbolon, 42, was found Nov. 28 by his wife inside his Tesla in the garage of his San Dimas home, according to witnesses and sheriff's officials. Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene. The medical examiner's office determined that he died from a gunshot wound to the head.
The sheriff said surveillance video determined that Simbolon was apparently followed home from an electric-vehicle charging station in the 200 block of South Citrus Street in West Covina. The suspect approached Simbolon in the garage, stole some unspecified items and then "senselessly" shot him, Luna said.
The sheriff said investigators saw a vehicle of interest on surveillance video that was believed to be connected to the crime. The license plate number of the 2024 gray BMW 440i four-door was entered into an automatic reader system that led to the discovery of the car near Santa Monica Boulevard and Rexford Drive in Beverly Hills, and police pulled the driver over, leading to his arrest.
"If we did not enter that plate into the reader system, this individual that we believe is responsible for at least four murders may have been out there and re-offended," Luna said.
Luna said the gun found in the vehicle is also believed to be the one used to kill Simbolon. The sheriff said there was no known connection among the four killings, and no known relationship between Powell and Simbolon.
L.A. Mayor Karen Bass lauded the involved agencies for their coordinated efforts to catch the suspect.
"When we come together as a city and as a region nothing can stop Los Angeles," Bass said. "We step up to challenges and we address them."
In a statement announcing the charges against Powell, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said, "The swift actions of law enforcement undoubtedly saved lives this week."
Simbolon is survived by his mother, wife and two sons, ages 8 and 10, according to the sheriff.
The homicide was the first in San Dimas since a gang-related killing Dec. 6, 2022, the last of three homicides in the city in 2022, sheriff's Lt. Hugo Reynaga told City News Service.
County CEO Fesia Davenport said Simbolon was a seven-year county employee, previously working in the county Superior Court, then joining her office in 2019. She said he was "key and instrumental in developing many software apps for the CEO's office."
Authorities said then that they couldn't discount the possibility that Powell might have committed other crimes.
"Based on his criminal history, he didn't just start doing this a week ago," the sheriff said.
Anyone with relevant information about Powell was urged to contact police or sheriff's officials.
The killings struck fear among the city's vast homeless population, with the mayor urging unhoused people to avoid sleeping alone outdoors and to instead seek company or shelter.
"This news is devastating to our city," the mayor said Dec. 1. "Living on the streets we already know is dangerous. We already know that four to five people die each day on our streets from a range of causes, and violence is certainly one of them. But I want to be very clear about what we're facing today. This is a killer who's preying on the unhoused."