The Latest: Man charged with LA deputy killing goes to court
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Latest on a Utah man being charged with killing a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy (all times local):
3:35 p.m.
A Utah man has appeared in court on charges of killing an off-duty Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy and another man in two unprovoked attacks.
Rhett McKenzie Nelson was ordered held without bail and didn’t enter a plea in a Los Angeles courtroom on Thursday. His arraignment was continued to July.
A dozen deputies wearing black bands over their badges attended the hearing.
Nelson, a 30-year-old from St. George, Utah, is charged in the killing of Deputy Joseph Solano, who was shot Monday in suburban Alhambra as the deputy waited inside a Jack in the Box.
Nelson’s also charged with killing another man in Los Angeles an hour earlier and attempting to kill a third man as well as two armed robberies in Long Beach.
Nelson’s family says he suffers from mental illness and an opiate addiction.
___
2:15 p.m.
A Utah man has been charged with murder in the deaths of an off-duty Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy and another man.
Prosecutors on Thursday also charged Rhett McKenzie Nelson with attempted murder and two robberies.
The case includes special circumstance allegations of multiple murders, murder by means of discharging a firearm from a motor vehicle and using a handgun in the commission of the crimes.
Nelson is expected in court Thursday afternoon. It was not known if he has an attorney.
Authorities allege Nelson shot Dmitry Koltsov from his vehicle in downtown Los Angeles on Monday, attempted to kill Aleksandr Chudetckii, then fatally shot Deputy Joseph G. Solano. They also say he committed robberies in Long Beach.
Nelson’s family says he suffers from mental illness and an opiate addiction.
