Man charged with murder over shooting of Irish bishop David O’Connell

Prosecutors have charged a man with killing a Catholic bishop in a crime that has stunned Los Angeles religious and immigrant communities.

Auxiliary Bishop David O’Connell, 69, was fatally shot on Saturday in the bedroom of his home in Hacienda Heights, an unincorporated community about 20 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.

The suspect, Carlos Medina, is the husband of O’Connell’s housekeeper. Medina had done work at the bishop’s home and was arrested Monday by a Swat (Special Weapons and Tactics) team.

LA County District Attorney George Gascon said on Wednesday that Medina is charged with one count of murder with a special allegation that he personally used a firearm.

“Charging Mr Medina will never repair the tremendous harm that was caused by this callous act, but it does take us one step closer to accountability,” Mr Gascon said.

Medina faces 35 years to life in prison. He is scheduled to be arraigned on Wednesday afternoon. It was unknown whether he has an attorney who can speak on his behalf.

Mr O’Connell had been a priest for 45 years and was originally from Co Cork, Ireland, according to Angelus News, the news outlet of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

In 2015, Pope Francis named him one of several auxiliary bishops of the archdiocese.

Lieutenant Michael Modica of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, who is leading the homicide investigation, said Medina told detectives of several reasons for the violence, “and none of them made any sense to investigators”, so the motive remains unclear.

Previous reports that Medina said Mr O’Connell had owed him money appear to be incorrect, Mr Modica said.