Suspect in a series of killings in California is charged with additional murder counts
By Taylor Romine and Nouran Salahieh, CNN
An additional five charges were filed Tuesday against a Stockton man already charged with murder in a series of killings in Northern California, San Joaquin County prosecutors said Tuesday.
Wesley Brownlee, 43, was already facing three counts of first-degree murder for the shooting deaths of Jonathan Rodriguez Hernandez, Juan Carlos Carranza-Cruz and Lawrence Lopez in Stockton.
When he was arrested in October, Stockton police had linked him to a series of other shootings.
On Tuesday, Brownlee was charged with an additional four counts of first-degree murder for the killings of Juan Alexander Vasquez, Mervin Harmon, Paul Yaw and Salvador Debudey Jr., as well as one count of attempted murder, the District Attorney’s Office announced in a news release.
Three of the gunshot victims were in San Joaquin County, while the other two were in Alameda County, the release said.
The killings were all part of a series of shootings that shook Stockton earlier this year as police announced they believed the attacks to be related and released surveillance images in search for the assailant, saying the shootings all involved people who were alone and who were shot either in the evening or early morning.
Suspect was ‘on a mission to kill’ when he was arrested, chief said
Investigators found ballistic evidence that connected six homicides and one attempted homicide, Police Chief Stanley McFadden has previously said.
Working off tips from the public, a surveillance team followed Brownlee as he drove around parks and dark places, “stopping, looking around and moving again,” McFadden said. The team watched his patterns and arrested him after they “identified that he’s posing a threat,” said the chief.
“He was on a mission to kill. He was out hunting,” McFadden said at the time.
CNN has reached out to Brownlee’s attorney for comment.
Brownlee will be arraigned for the additional charges on January 3, the District Attorney’s Office said.
“The San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office continues to collaborate with our local law enforcement agencies to ensure justice for these victims,” District Attorney Tori Verber Salazar said in a statement.
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