A 27-year-old man charged with murder for allegedly breaking into a man’s Valley Village apartment in April and killing him with a screwdriver now faces additional charges as investigators say they have tied him to another slaying, in Woodland Hills in 2022, according to court documents.
Erick Escamilla has yet to enter a plea to any of the charges he faces.
Escamilla now faces seven felony charges, including two charges of murder, one charge of attempted murder, three charges of residential burglary and one charge of arson, according to an amended complaint filed by prosecutors on Monday, June 16.
He was arrested in May on suspicion of fatally stabbing 53-year-old Menashe Hidra inside Hidra’s apartment on April 23.
Prosecutors have also charged Escamilla with the Aug. 2, 2022, slaying of Ok Ja Kim, 81, in Woodland Hills. Her charred body was found halfway under the bed in her bedroom, “which showed extensive signs of arson,” Los Angeles police said at the time.
A family member went to Kim’s home and found her body and saw evidence of a fire, leading to a 911 call.
Kim suffered sharp- and blunt-force injuries and was strangled before set on fire during a home-invasion robbery in the 20800 block of Martha Street, police said.
NBC Los Angeles reported this week that a key piece of evidence preserved by investigators from that crime scene was what led to Escamilla getting identified as the suspect after his May arrest on suspicion of Hidra’s murder.
Escamilla is also charged with attempted murder and first-degree residential burglary on another man, with an allegation he used a sharp object to attack the victim, the complaint said. The complaint did not specify where the Aug. 23, 2022, attack occurred, but NBC reported that it happened in the city of San Fernando.
Detective Sharon Kim, the lead detective on Kim’s case, was the one who saw the connection between the three crimes while reviewing case files, NBC reported.
On April 23, prosecutors allege Escamilla broke into an adjacent apartment through a skylight, hopped from the balcony to Hidra’s balcony and entered his fifth-floor apartment in the 12600 block of Riverside Drive in Valley Village.
Hidra’s body was discovered three days later during a welfare check, police said.
Escamilla’s next court appearance is scheduled for June 25, when he may enter a plea to the charges. He is in custody.