LOS ANGELES -- A Sylmar man suspected of killing three people in a series of San Fernando Valley shootings Sunday was charged Tuesday with three other crimes, including the fatal shooting of a man in Pacoima and the attempted murder of a couple in West Hollywood last week, authorities said.
Alexander Hernandez, 34, was charged Tuesday with one count of capital murder in the fatal shooting of Gildardo Morales, 48, that happened Thursday in Pacoima. Morales was driving his pickup truck to work when he was shot and killed, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.
Hernandez was also charged Tuesday for allegedly firing at a couple inside their pickup at Sunset and Gardner in West Hollywood on Friday. The couple escaped unharmed. He was charged with three counts of animal cruelty for allegedly shooting three dogs, two of which were killed, after driving by a house in Sylmar on Saturday, according to the D.A.'s Office.
Hernandez is scheduled to be arraigned on those charges at 1:30 p.m. today at Los Angeles Superior Court's San Fernando courthouse.
He has not been charged for any of the deadly shootings that occurred Sunday, police said.
"We anticipate charges will be filed on the three homicides that occurred in the San Fernando Valley on Sunday in the next several days to weeks," LAPD Deputy Chief Kirk Albanese said at a news conference in downtown Los Angeles Tuesday evening. "We're very confident of that. We believe we have the right man."
Hernandez was arrested on suspicion of animal cruelty after a one-hour standoff with Los Angeles Police Department SWAT officers on Sunday night and was being held in lieu of $1 million bail. A gun was recovered at his home and authorities were checking to see whether the gun is the same one used in any of the other crimes, said Lt. John Corina of the L.A. County Sheriff's Department, which is helping LAPD and the San Fernando Police Department with the investigations.
Earlier Sunday, three people were fatally shot and four people were wounded in three separate shooting incidents in San Fernando, Sylmar and Pacoima. Hernandez is a suspect in all three of those Sunday incidents, which all took place within an hour, police said.
At about 5:50 a.m. that day, a 23-year-old woman was fatally shot and her parents sustained life-threatening injuries while pulling over in their car to escape an erratic driver behind them in the 1400 block of Celis Street in San Fernando, authorities said. The family was on their way to nearby Santa Rosa de Lima Church.
The deceased woman's father, Jose Franco, remained in critical condition at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center on Tuesday while his wife, Beatriz Franco, was upgraded to good condition, a hospital spokeswoman said Tuesday.
About 6:30 a.m. Sunday, a 29-year-old man was fatally shot in Sylmar Park in the 13100 block of Borden Avenue. Fifteen minutes later, a 59-year-old woman reportedly heading to nearby Guardian Angel Catholic Church was fatally shot in a stopped vehicle in the 12900 block of Filmore Street in Pacoima, authorities said.
Police say Hernandez is also a suspect in a shooting Wednesday in which a woman was severely injured by gunfire while exiting the 5 Freeway at Colorado Boulevard in Atwater Village. LAPD and Sheriff's officials said they are investigating other possible shooting incidents in which Hernandez could have been involved, including one in which a man was wounded Saturday by shattered glass after someone fired a shotgun through the man's window while driving by on the eastbound 60 Freeway near South El Monte.
In many of the incidents, witnesses describe the suspect as driving a gold or tan SUV, which helped investigators link the crimes to Hernandez.
Hernandez was charged Tuesday with one count of murder with the special circumstance of shooting at an occupied vehicle, two counts of attempted murder, one count of shooting at an occupied vehicle and three counts of animal cruelty, according to the D.A.'s Office. He is also charged with two counts of discharging a firearm with gross negligence, one count of possession of a firearm by a felon and possession of ammunition.
Hernandez was convicted of possession of methamphetamine in 2004, possession of a controlled substance in 2006 and of being a felon in possession of a firearm in 2012, according to Los Angeles Superior Court records.
The special circumstance of a drive-by shooting makes Hernandez eligible for the death penalty, though prosecutors have not decided whether they will pursue it, according to the D.A.'s office.
Staff Writer Susan Abram and City News Service contributed to this report.
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