Suspect charged in series of California homicides

Suspect charged in series of California homicides

The San Joaquin County, California District Attorney filed formal charges against Wesley Brownlee in a series of recent homicides in Stockton.

Brownlee, 43, is charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of Jonathan Rodriguez Hernandez, Juan Carlos Carranza-Cruz and Lawrence Lopez.

Brownlee also faces charges of carrying weapons and ammunition. He was not asked to plead guilty.

Brownlee was taken into custody Saturday, authorities say, in connection with seven California shootings that Stockton police believe are connected by ballistics evidence: the homicides of five men in Stockton and one in Oakland, and the shooting of a woman. in Stockton, from April 2021 to the end of last month.

The victims of this year’s homicides were identified by the San Joaquin County Medical Examiner as: Paul Yaw, 35, who died July 8; Salvador Debudey Jr., 43, who died on August 11; Jonathan Hernandez Rodriguez, 21, who died on August 30; Juan Cruz, 52 years old, who died on September 21; and Lawrence Lopez Sr., 54, who died on September 27.

The reward for information leading to the arrest increased to $125,000 this week. According to Stockton Mayor Kevin J. Lincoln, hundreds of tips were received from the public.

Stockton is a city of about 322,000 people located about 70 kilometers southeast of Sacramento.