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Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna has identified the suspect in the murder of Auxiliary Bishop David O’Connell as 65-year-old Carlos Medina.
Luna said Medina is the husband of O’Connell’s housekeeper and had previously done work at the bishop’s residence.
Bishop David O'Connell, of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles' San Gabriel Pastoral Region (Sarah Reingewirtz/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images)
Sheriff's deputies responded to a home in the 1500 block of Janlu Ave in Hacienda Heights around 1 p.m. Saturday where they found O'Connell, 69, unresponsive with a gunshot wound to the upper body.
Investigators found no firearm at the scene and no signs of forced entry into the Bishop's residence, Luna said. Based on the evidence, the sheriff's office determined it was now a murder investigation.
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Investigators canvassed the neighborhood and discovered surveillance footage showing a dark-colored compact SUV pulling into the bishop's driveway. The vehicle stayed in the bishop's driveway for a short time before leaving the location, Luna said.
Detectives received a tip that there was a "person of interest" who resided in Torrance, about an hour's drive southwest of Hacienda Heights. That person of interest was later identified as Carlos Medina, a 65-year-old Hispanic male, Luna said.
FILE: Bishop David O'Connell, of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, attends a news conference at the Fall General Assembly meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, on Nov. 17, 2021, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
The tipster told detectives Medina was acting "strange" and "irrational" and "made comments about the bishop owing him money," Luna said.
Medina is the husband of O'Connell's housekeeper. Luna said Medina had previously done work at O'Connell's residence and drove a similar SUV to the one seen in his driveway.
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Luna said a search warrant was executed on Medina’s house early Monday morning, but he refused to come out. Medina eventually surrendered, and he was arrested around 8:15 a.m.
Detectives recovered two firearms at Medina’s residence, Luna said. Investigations are underway to determine if they were the same firearms used in O’Connell’s murder.
Luna said phone calls have poured in since news of O'Connell's death. He described the bishop as a "pillar in our community" and a "peacemaker."
An image of Bishop David O'Connell is posted on the post of a street sign near his home in Hacienda Heights, Calif., Sunday, Feb. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
"This man, this bishop, made a huge difference in our community. He was very loved and it's very sad that we're gathered here today to talk about his murder in this way," Luna said.
O'Connell had been a priest for 45 years and was a native of Ireland, according to Angelus News, the news outlet of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. In 2015, Pope Francis named him one of several auxiliary bishops of the archdiocese.
O'Connell worked in South Los Angeles for years and focused on gang intervention, Angelus News reported. He later sought to broker peace between residents and law enforcement following the violent 1992 uprising after a jury acquitted four white LA police officers in the beating of Rodney King, a Black man.
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Nearly two decades later, O'Connell brought the San Gabriel Valley community together to rebuild a mission there destroyed an arson attack. In recent years he also spearheaded Catholic efforts in the region to work with immigrant children and families from Central America.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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