LOS ANGELES — A 61-year-old man whose wife worked as Los Angeles Bishop David O'Connell’s housekeeper was charged Wednesday with one count of murder in the shooting death of the much lauded religious leader, who was known for his humor and work helping immigrant children.
Carlos Medina, a handyman who also worked at times for the bishop, also faces a special circumstance enhancement of using a firearm during the crime, L.A. County District Attorney George Gascón announced during a news conference Wednesday. If convicted, he could face 35 years to life in prison.
Medina is accused of killing the 69-year-old priest Saturday in his Hacienda Heights home, where he lived alone. Medina’s wife worked as a housekeeper for the bishop.
O'Connell was found dead Saturday in his bedroom with “at least one gunshot wound to the upper body,” L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna said.
Neighbors said they had heard no gunshots or unusual noise coming from the home until deputies and paramedics descended on the quiet neighborhood just before 1 p.m. Saturday.
Medina was taken into custody at his Torrance home Monday, after he barricaded himself for some time. Inside, investigators recovered two firearms.
Investigators were led there two days after the killing after a tipster told officials Medina had been acting strangely after the killing, Luna said Monday after announcing the arrest.
Surveillance video also showed a “dark, compact SUV” — believed to belong to Medina — at O'Connell’s home at about the same time the killing took place, authorities said.
Officials have yet to disclose what may have motivated the killing. After announcing Medina’s arrest, Luna said the tipster who pointed law enforcement to the suspect said Medina had claimed that the bishop owed him money related to his work as a handyman.
Medina is expected to be assigned a public defender Wednesday.
Law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation said Medina was convicted several years ago of possessing methamphetamine and driving under the influence.
Law enforcement officials said they also believe Medina had recently started using drugs again and had been acting increasingly erratic in the time before the fatal shooting.
But in the unincorporated Torrance neighborhood where Medina and his wife rented a two-bedroom yellow stucco home, neighbors said the couple led quiet, ordinary lives and were friendly with their neighbors.
“He never said anything offensive,” said Francisco Medina Lopez, 74, a neighbor who said he was friendly with Medina. “It’s so strange.”
Medina, who walked with a limp and is retired, was often seen tinkering on his cars or working on his yard, neighbors said. His wife was a fixture in the neighborhood who was frequently observed walking a large white dog that residents said belonged to the bishop.
The two neighbors would occasionally drink beers or share meals, making small talk while listening to ranchera music.
Although Medina’s wife worked for the bishop, Medina Lopez said the couple didn’t seem particularly religious, didn’t bring it up in conversations or decorate their home with Catholic objects and images.
But Medina Lopez said he always thought well of his neighbor, who would sometimes give him a ride to the swap meet or nearby stores.
“He was your average older man, always talkative and in a good mood,” said Luis Lopez, who lived in a home behind the Medinas’ home. “He was a regular common man.”
After news of the bishop’s death spread, about a dozen people stood with candles and prayed the rosary beside police tape near his home.
O'Connell, who earned the title of bishop in 2015, was a “peacemaker with a heart for the poor and the immigrant,” Archbishop José H. Gómez of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles said in a statement Sunday.
“He had a passion for building community where the sanctity and dignity of every human life was honored and protected,” the statement by Gómez read. “He was also a good friend, and I will miss him greatly. I know we all will.”
Born in County Cork, Ireland, O'Connell studied for the priesthood at All Hallows College in Dublin and was ordained in 1979, according to the archdiocese.
He served as associate pastor at several parishes in Los Angeles, including at St. Frances X. Cabrini in South Los Angeles for 14 years. He then became pastor of Ascension, where he oversaw a congregation of about 4,000 families and two schools with about 500 students.
In the neighborhoods he served, he was known as an calming intermediary, especially after the 1992 riots. The Catholic News Agency reported at the time that O'Connell, not yet a bishop, worked at trying to rebuild trust between police and the South L.A. community.
He also served as founder and chairman of the interdiocesan SoCal Immigration Task Force, which helped children who had entered the United States without adult companions.
“He was the help of the helpless and the hope of the hopeless,” said Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn during an emotional news conference.
Gómez fought back tears and his voice cracked as he called O'Connell “a good friend of Los Angeles.” He recalled the bishop’s fluent Spanish, tinted with a Irish accent.
“Every day he wanted to show compassion to the poor, to the homeless, to the immigrant and to all those living on society’s margins,” Gómez said. “He was a good priest, and a good bishop and a man of peace.”
