Authorities have charged 20-year-old Malik Patt with three murders during a string of robberies at 7-Elevens across Southern California that left a clerk, a customer, and a homeless man dead.
Officials say they have linked Patt and an accomplice, Jason Payne, 44, to at least 13 robberies.
District Attorney Todd Spitzer said Patt is accused of two killings at 7-Elevens in Brea and Santa Ana on July 11 and the killing of a homeless man on July 9 in North Hills in Los Angeles.
The victims include 24-year-old Matthew Rule of Santa Ana, 40-year-old Matthew Hirsch, and a homeless man who officials have not named. Officials said several other people were injured, but are expected to survive.
Patt would be eligible for the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted as charged.
Patt is also charged with two counts of attempted murder, three counts of robbery, and carjacking during a series of crimes from July 9 to 11.
"Malik Patt is a stone-cold serial killer. There's no other way to describe him," Spitzer said during a press conference. "He executed innocent people and he shot others, and his behavior and the crime spree he engaged in...is, I literally got chills up my own spine. It's chilling."
Payne will face charges of robbery and attempted robbery in connection with holdups in Santa Ana, La Habra, and Brea.
The Orange County Violent Crime Task Force arrested the two men after 13 robberies and three homicides that began July 9 in Los Angeles and cut across Orange, San Bernardino, and Riverside counties.
A task force made up of Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents and investigators from Orange County police agencies tracked the men for almost a day to a home in the 1900 block of West 23rd Street in L.A. and took them into custody.
Security footage from one of the robberies showed a man in a mask under a hooded sweatshirt, with only his eyes visible. Police circulated that image and 7-Eleven offered a $100,000 reward for a tip leading to an arrest.
Officials then worked to link the robberies together. Patt and Payne are neighbors, according to officials.
