A defense attorney raised doubts Thursday about the mental competency of an ex-con charged in the shooting deaths of three homeless men in Los Angeles and the follow-home robbery and killing of an L.A. County employee in San Dimas within a four-day span.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo suspended criminal proceedings against Jerrid Joseph Powell, now 35, after one of his attorneys, Derek Dillman, expressed concern about the defendant’s “ability to rationally assist in his defense.”
The Los Angeles resident is expected to be sent to the Hollywood courthouse May 6 for a mental competency evaluation, with a status conference set June 9 at the downtown Los Angeles courthouse.
Powell had been awaiting a hearing to determine next month whether there was sufficient evidence to require him to stand trial on 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, 2023, 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 was initially arrested Nov. 30, 2023, in connection with the killing of Simbolon, who worked as a project manager in the Los Angeles County executive office. Days later, then-Los Angeles Police Department Chief Michel Moore and Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna announced that Powell had been tied to the fatal shootings of three homeless men.
Authorities subsequently determined that a handgun recovered from Powell’s vehicle was used in the three homeless killings, Moore 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 Powell was taken into custody after Beverly Hills police conducted a traffic stop of Powell’s vehicle, which had been linked to Powell after Simbolon was killed in the garage of a home on the 1800 block of Hawkbrook Drive.
The first homeless killing occurred around 3 a.m. Nov. 26, 2023, on the 800 block of West 110th Street in the Westmont area near Watts, followed by another about 5 a.m. Nov. 27, 2023, on the 600 block of Mateo Street near downtown, and another at 2:30 a.m. Nov. 29, 2023, 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 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, a 42-year-old married father of two young sons, 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.
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.
Powell has remained jailed without bail since his arrest.