Two More Counts Against OC Murder Suspect

Two counts of homicide are being tacked onto the man being held in connection with the serial killings of homeless man in Orange County, according to the county district attorney.

Charges against Eder Giovanni Herrera, accused in a Yorba Linda double murder, have been dropped, and will be charged instead to Itzcoatl Ocampo, , said Susan Kang Schroeder, chief of staff for the Orange County district attorney.

The additional counts will be filed Monday against Ocampo, who has already been charged with four felony counts of murder with special circumstances, including multiple murders and lying in wait.

Previous charges stemmed from a string of homicides that plagued Orange County from Dec. 2011 to January, when Ocampo, a 23-year-old Iraq War veteran, was arrested in connection with the deaths of four homeless men.

The latest charge involves the October murders of a Yorba Linda woman and her son. Herrera, 24, had initially been charged in the deaths of his mother Raquel Estrada and brother Juan Herrera.

Detectives announced Thursday that investigations into Ocampo’s case linked the 23-year-old to the murders based on the method, location and modus operandi (MO) of the crimes.

The charges against Herrera have been dropped, but late Friday night he was still being held at a federal detention center, where immigration officials planned to interview him for undisclosed reasons.

If convicted, Ocampo could face a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole, according to the OC district attorney’s office. The special circumstances attached to the case could make him eligible for the death penalty.

Ocampo was arrested on Jan. 13 and is being held without bail.

An arraignment for the new charges has scheduled for Feb. 6. Ocampo has not yet made his plea in the earlier charges, the arraignment for which was pushed to Feb. 17.

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