Mourners pay tribute to slain LA bishop as detectives prepare case for DA

HACIENDA HEIGHTS, Calif. (KABC) — Mourners are continuing to stop by the Hacienda Heights home of slain Bishop David O’Connell, questioning the seeming senselessness of his murder and remembering him as a warm and caring man.

A memorial of flowers and candles has been growing on the sidewalk in front of the Hacienda Heights home where the bishop’s body was found on Saturday with a fatal gunshot wound.

“We knew all the good he did for everyone,” said Lupita Serrano of Hacienda Heights. “He was always involved with the community. It just hurts to lose someone like him, someone that is making a difference in the world.”

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department on Monday arrested 61-year-old Carlos Medina of Torrance for the bishop’s shooting death.

Investigators say Medina is the husband of the bishop’s housekeeper and had done some work himself at the home. Acquaintances told detectives Medina had been acting oddly recently, making comments indicating the bishop owed him money.

Detectives have not yet established if there was in fact a dispute between the bishop and his alleged killer.

Arrest made in shooting death of LA Auxiliary Bishop David O’Connell

The LASD expects to present its legal case to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office on Wednesday. In the meantime, Medina is being held on $2 million bail.

Mourners are stopping by the home, stunned at the tragedy and describing the bishop as a good man who truly cared for members of the archdiocese.

“I remember, because of where I grew up in LA … I knew the parishes where he was the pastor. A lot of the people were poor, immigrants and he just helped everybody,” said Gloria Alvarez of West Covina. “He loved everybody.”

“My heart is just aching for us, just as a nation, as a world,” said Rita Fulmore of Walnut. “Just where are we going? We just don’t know where we’re going. This is just so senseless.”