An Inglewood man was charged Monday with murdering two men and trying to kill another after meeting them through an online dating app.
Rockim Prowell, 34, was ordered to be held without bail while awaiting arraignment Oct. 16 in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom on two counts of murder stemming from the 2021 death of Miguel Angel King, 51, whose remains were found in August 2021 in the Angeles National Forest, and the August 2023 disappearance of Robert Gutierrez, 53, whose body has not been found, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.
The murder charges include the special circumstance allegation of multiple murders.
Prosecutors will decide later whether to seek the death penalty against Prowell, who is also charged with two counts each of carjacking and second-degree burglary and one count each of attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon.
Prowell was arrested last Thursday by the Los Angeles Police Department's Robbery-Homicide Division, and has remained behind bars since then, jail records show.
Prowell and King met July 20, 2021, after talking on an online dating app, with Prowell allegedly fatally shooting the victim and stealing his car, which was found more than a week later several miles from Prowell's home, according to the District Attorney's Office.
Forensic evidence recovered from the vehicle linked Prowell to the slaying, and King's remains were discovered in the Angeles National Forest on Aug. 14, 2021, according to the District Attorney's Office.
Prowell and Gutierrez allegedly agreed to meet Aug. 21, 2023, about a mile from Prowell's home after interacting on the same online dating site, according to the District Attorney's Office.
Gutierrez's family reported him missing two days later, authorities said.
Gutierrez's car was found in the defendant's garage when investigators arrested Prowell last week, and additional evidence allegedly linked him to the man's killing, according to the District Attorney's Office.
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Prowell -- who is on probation in two separate cases for a series of burglaries in the Beverly Hills and Los Angeles areas between 2019 and 2021 -- is also charged with an attack this Feb. 22 on a 40-year-old man with whom he connected on the same online dating app and met about four miles from where the defendant lived, according to the District Attorney's Office.
Prowell allegedly bound the man, stole his wallet and beat him with a baseball bat, then chased the man in a vehicle, struck him and broke his leg after the man managed to escape, according to the District Attorney's Office.
"Imagine the terror and horror these victims felt after being duped into believing they were meeting for one reason, only to face inexplicable violence," District Attorney Nathan Hochman said in a statement announcing the charges. "These were predatory acts that showed a total disregard of life. This suspect has now been stopped in his tracks because of the diligent and tenacious work done by investigators at both the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department."
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