A SUSPECTED serial killer has been identified after allegedly murdering four people in Los Angeles, police said.
Jerrid Joseph Powell, a 33-year-old Black man, was arrested after he allegedly shot three homeless men in the head while they slept on the streets.
Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore announced the arrest on Saturday and said the suspect has been linked to a fourth killing.
He was arrested on Thursday after he was involved in a fatal shooting during a robbery in San Dimas, which is about 28 miles east of Los Angeles, Moore said.
On Tuesday, Powell allegedly followed Nicholas Simbolon from a Tesla charging station and broke into his home before fatally shooting him, police believe.
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He was identified as a suspect on Wednesday and was arrested the following morning, just hours after a third homeless victim was killed.
The victims, aged between 37 and 62 years old, were all shot dead in open areas in the city, with one killed while he was asleep.
Surveillance images show the suspect walking around in a hoodie that he is said to have been wearing at the time of the murders.
Officials said he was arrested while driving the gray car that was believed to be the one used during the spree.
No motive for the killings has been released.
“I am grateful that this suspect in this case is in custody and no longer a threat to our community,” Moore said.
The disturbing string of murders began on Sunday, November 26 at around 3 am. The victim was identified as 37-year-old male Jose Vamos.
Second victim Mark Digs, 62, was killed just one day later, on Monday, November 27 at around 4:55 am.
The third murder occurred on Wednesday, November 29 at around 2:30 am. The victim was only identified as a 52-year-old male.
All three victims were killed by gunshot, all while sleeping or preparing to sleep, and all in the early morning.
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Simbolon, the 42-year-old victim killed in his home, was a tenured Los Angeles County employee who developed software for the local government.
He was married and had two young children.
"Why does it always happen to a good man?" Simbolon's aunt Fanny Prentice told Nexstar affiliate KTLA.
"His two little children, they’re so young and the wife. How are they going to live their life without their father?”
On Friday, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass mourned the killings and deemed them the latest stressor on the unhoused community.
She said that four to five homeless people die every day for a variety of reasons, including violence.
The murders are eerily similar to the Stockton serial killer from 2022, who killed multiple homeless people in the Stockton and Oakland areas of California.
He shot a total of seven victims, most of which were homeless.
