Murder charges filed in killings of LA deputy, 2nd man

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A 30-year-old Utah man has been charged with murdering an off-duty Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy and another man hours earlier.

County prosecutors on Thursday also charged Rhett McKenzie Nelson with attempted murder and two robberies.

The case includes special circumstance allegations of multiple murders and murder by means of discharging a firearm from a motor vehicle as well as allegations of using a handgun in the commission of the crimes.

Nelson is expected to appear in court Thursday afternoon.

Authorities allege Nelson shot Dmitry Koltsov from his vehicle in downtown Los Angeles on Monday, attempted to murder Aleksandr Chudetckii, then fatally shot Deputy Joseph G. Solano in suburban Alhambra and committed the robberies in Long Beach.

Nelson’s family says he suffers from mental illness and an opiate addiction.