Accused killer of California Bishop David O’Connell pleads not guilty to murder charge
byDuc Manh•
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An exhibit honoring the life, ministry and legacy of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles Auxiliary, Bishop David O’Connell on show on the Cathedral of Our Woman of the Angels in Los Angeles, Friday, Mar 17, 2023. Bishop O’Connell was shot and killed on February 18. (Photograph by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Every day Information/SCNG)
The Funeral Mass begins for Bishop David O’Connell at Our Woman of the Angels in Los Angeles, CA Friday, March 3, 2023. O’Connell was discovered shot at his Hacienda Heights dwelling on February 18. The suspect within the taking pictures, 61-year-old Carlos Medina, has been charged with the homicide. (Photograph by David Crane, Los Angeles Every day Information/SCNG)
Archbishop Gomez walks to the altar for Bishop David O’Connell’s Vigil Mass on the Cathedral of Our Woman of the Angels in Los Angeles on Thursday night, March 2, 2023. O’Connell was shot and killed at his Hacienda Heights dwelling on Feb. 18. (Photograph by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Every day Information/SCNG)
Flowers on the entrance for the viewing for Bishop David O’Connell on the Cathedral of Our Woman of the Angels, in Downtown Los Angeles, March 2, 2023. (Photograph by Dean Musgrove)
Prayers playing cards with an image of Bishop O’Connell throughout a San Gabriel Pastoral Area Memorial Mass for Bishop David G. O’Connell at St. John Vianney Catholic Church in Hacienda Heights on Wednesday, March 1, 2023. O’Connell was shot and killed February 18th inside his dwelling. (Photograph by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-Information/ SCNG)
The late Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles David O’Connell was honored throughout a particular bilingual prayer service led by Archbishop José H. Gomez on the Non secular Schooling Congress 2023 (RECongress 2023) on the Area of the Anaheim Conference Middle on Sunday, Feb. 26. Photograph: Screenshot from livecast
The late Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles David O’Connell was honored throughout a particular bilingual prayer service led by Archbishop José H. Gomez on the Non secular Schooling Congress 2023 (RECongress 2023) on the Area of the Anaheim Conference Middle on Sunday, Feb. 26. Photograph: Screenshot from livecast
A photograph of Auxiliary Bishop David O’Connell is surrounded by candles and flowers at his dwelling in Hacienda Heights, CA on Wednesday, February 22, 2023. One man has been charged within the bishop’s homicide. (Photograph by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Church teams from the San Gabriel Valley carry out music and prayers in entrance of a makeshift memorial for Bishop David O’Connell in entrance of his dwelling in Hacienda Heights on Tuesday, February 21, 2023. O’Connell was shot and killed Saturday inside his dwelling. (Photograph by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-Information/ SCNG)
Church teams from the San Gabriel Valley carry out music and prayers in entrance of a makeshift memorial for Bishop David O’Connell in entrance of his dwelling in Hacienda Heights on Tuesday, February 21, 2023. O’Connell was shot and killed Saturday inside his dwelling. (Photograph by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-Information/ SCNG)
Carlos Medina, the 61-year-old husband of the housekeeper for Auxiliary Bishop David O’Connell, stays in custody on $2.03 million bail.
The protection crew is “within the early phases of the investigation,” Medina’s lawyer, Deputy Public Defender Pedro Cortes, stated in an announcement, including that “it might be untimely to touch upon the deserves of the case.”
Medina was arrested February 20 in reference to O’Connell’s dying, authorities stated. He was charged with one rely of homicide and a particular allegation he personally used a firearm, in response to a information launch from the Los Angeles County District Lawyer’s Workplace on February 22.
A preliminary listening to was set for Could 17.
O’Connell was discovered fatally shot February 18 at his dwelling in the neighborhood of Hacienda Heights, some 20 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.
“This was a brutal act of violence towards an individual who has devoted his life to creating our neighborhoods safer, more healthy, and at all times serving with love and compassion,” Los Angeles County District Lawyer George Gascon stated at a information convention saying the homicide cost.
O’Connell, 69, was a pillar within the Los Angeles space who was identified for his compassion and advocacy work for the immigrant neighborhood in addition to different susceptible teams, together with these experiencing homelessness and people in want. He was praised by officers as a neighborhood peacemaker.
Detectives began wanting into Medina after a tipster alleged he had been performing unusual and made feedback concerning the bishop owing him cash, Sheriff Robert Luna stated in February. Detectives additionally realized that surveillance video confirmed an SUV much like one Medina is understood to drive had just lately pulled into the bishop’s driveway and departed after a short while, Luna stated.
Nevertheless, the sheriff’s division harassed on the time investigators didn’t know the motive for O’Connell’s killing.
“When (Medina) was interviewed … he stated a number of totally different causes, and none of them made any sense to investigators,” sheriff’s Lt. Michael Modica stated. “So we don’t imagine there’s any validity to the owing of cash.”
Medina, moreover being married to the bishop’s housekeeper, had completed some work across the bishop’s home, Luna stated.
Medina was taken into custody at his dwelling in Torrance — roughly a 35-mile drive southwest of Hacienda Heights — after an hourslong standoff with police, authorities stated.
At Medina’s dwelling, investigators discovered two firearms and “different proof probably linking Medina to the crime,” the sheriff stated. The weapons nonetheless wanted to be examined to find out whether or not they had been linked to the bishop’s killing, Luna stated.
Sheriff Robert Luna consoles Archbishop Jose Gomez throughout a press convention in Los Angeles on Monday, February 20, 2023. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Division has now confirmed the arrest of suspect, Carlos Medina, within the killing of Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop David O’Connell. (Photograph by Brittany Murray, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
