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Prosecutor: 4 more slayings tied to California serial killer

California Serial Killings
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A suspect in serial killings has been charged in four additional slayings, bringing the total to seven deaths in Northern California since April 2021.

Prosecutors charged the suspect Tuesday in a seventh killing.

The shootings terrorized the Central Valley city of Stockton earlier this year as police searched for a man who they said was clad in black and appeared to be “on a mission” to commit ambush-style shootings.

He has also tied violence in Alameda County.

Wesley Brownlee was arrested in October when authorities say he “was out hunting” in Stockton.

Stockton Police Chief Stanley McFadden said in a news conference at that time that tips led officers to Brownlee and then a surveillance team set up to watch him, the Associated Press.

Authorities have identified those killed in Stockton as Paul Yaw, 35, who died on July 8; Salvador Debudey Jr., 43, who was killed on Aug. 11; Jonathan Hernandez Rodriguez, 21, who died on Aug. 30; Juan Cruz, 52, who was killed on Sept. 21 and Lawrence Lopez Sr., 54, who was killed on Sept. 27.

Brownlee has been charged in the killings of Rodriguez, Cruz, and Lopez Sr. On Tuesday, he was also charged in the deaths of Yaw, Debudey Jr., and the April 2021 deaths of Juan Vasquez Serrano, 39, and Mervin Harmon in Alameda County.

He is also charged with the attempted murder of Natasha LaTour, 46, who was shot on April 16, 2021.

Brownlee is set to appear in court on Jan. 3.

His public defender, Allison Nobert, did not immediately return a request for comment.