Jerrid Joseph Powell: The Los Angeles County Shooting Case
Overview
Jerrid Joseph Powell is an accused serial killer charged with murdering four men during a four-day period in Los Angeles County, California, in November 2023. Three of the victims were unhoused men who were alone in public places during the early morning hours. The fourth victim was a Los Angeles County employee who authorities said was followed home, robbed and fatally shot inside his garage.
The killings caused widespread fear, particularly among Los Angeles residents experiencing homelessness. Investigators believed the same gunman was approaching vulnerable men as they slept or rested on sidewalks and in alleys. Authorities mobilized police officers, outreach workers and shelter personnel to warn unhoused residents not to sleep alone while detectives searched for the person responsible.
Powell was arrested before police publicly connected him to all four deaths. Investigators initially detained him in connection with the robbery and killing of Nicholas Simbolon in San Dimas. A handgun recovered from Powell’s vehicle was subsequently linked through forensic testing to the shootings of the three unhoused victims in Los Angeles.
The First Killing
The first known killing occurred during the early morning of November 26, 2023. At approximately 3:00 a.m., Los Angeles police officers responded to an alley in the 800 block of West 110th Street in the Westmont area near Watts. There they discovered 37-year-old Jose Bolanos lying on a couch in the alley. He had been fatally shot.
Bolanos was experiencing homelessness and was alone when he was attacked. Investigators found no indication that a confrontation, argument or prolonged interaction had taken place before the shooting. The circumstances suggested that the gunman had approached Bolanos while he was resting and opened fire without warning.
The Killing of Mark Diggs
Approximately one day later, another unhoused man was killed under similar circumstances. At about 4:55 a.m. on November 27, 2023, 62-year-old Mark Diggs was near the downtown Los Angeles area when he was shot. Reports placed the crime near Mateo Street and East Seventh Street.
Diggs had reportedly been pushing a shopping cart before stopping near a wall and connecting his telephone to an electrical outlet. He was alone and apparently occupied with charging his phone when the gunman approached. Diggs was shot and left at the scene.
Police later described the killing as particularly cold-blooded. As with Bolanos, investigators found no evidence of a dispute between Diggs and his attacker. The apparent lack of a personal connection or confrontation strengthened the belief that someone was deliberately seeking out isolated unhoused men.
The Follow-Home Robbery and Murder
On the evening of November 28, 2023, the pattern shifted from an early-morning street shooting to a follow-home robbery in San Dimas. The victim was 42-year-old Nicholas Simbolon, a project manager in the information technology division of the Los Angeles County Chief Executive Office.
Investigators determined that Simbolon had visited an electric-vehicle charging station in the 200 block of South Citrus Street in West Covina. Authorities alleged that Powell saw Simbolon there and followed his vehicle for more than ten miles to his residence in the 1800 block of Hawkbrook Drive in San Dimas.
Simbolon arrived home shortly before 7:00 p.m. and drove into his garage. According to investigators, the attacker approached him inside or near the garage, took personal property and then shot him in the upper body. Simbolon’s wife discovered him wounded inside the garage and called for emergency assistance. Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner determined that Simbolon died from a gunshot wound to the head. Surveillance recordings captured a vehicle believed to have been involved in the crime. Detectives identified it as a gray 2024 BMW M440i, providing investigators with an important lead that would soon result in Powell’s arrest.
The Fourth Fatal Shooting
During the early morning of November 29, 2023, another unhoused man was shot and killed in Los Angeles. The victim was 52-year-old Shawn Alvarez. He was attacked at approximately 2:30 a.m. near South Avenue 18 and South Pasadena Avenue in the Lincoln Heights area.
Alvarez was reportedly sleeping on a sidewalk when the gunman approached. Like Bolanos and Diggs, he was alone in an exposed public location and was given little or no opportunity to defend himself. The shooting closely resembled the two earlier attacks on unhoused men.
By this point, detectives were comparing physical evidence, surveillance recordings and descriptions of a vehicle observed near the crime scenes. Investigators believed that the three street shootings had been carried out by the same person.
Victims and Dates
- Jose Bolanos, 37: Fatally shot on November 26, 2023, in an alley in the 800 block of West 110th Street in the Westmont area near Watts, Los Angeles County. Bolanos was unhoused and was reportedly resting on a couch when he was attacked.
- Mark Diggs, 62: Fatally shot on November 27, 2023, near Mateo Street and East Seventh Street in or near downtown Los Angeles. Diggs was unhoused and had reportedly stopped with his shopping cart to charge his telephone when he was killed.
- Nicholas Simbolon, 42: Robbed and fatally shot on November 28, 2023, in the garage of his home in the 1800 block of Hawkbrook Drive in San Dimas, California. Authorities alleged that he was followed home from an electric-vehicle charging station in West Covina.
- Shawn Alvarez, 52: Fatally shot on November 29, 2023, near South Avenue 18 and South Pasadena Avenue in the Lincoln Heights area of Los Angeles. Alvarez was unhoused and was reportedly sleeping on a sidewalk when he was attacked.
The Search for the Gunman
Before a suspect was publicly identified, the three killings of unhoused men created an urgent public-safety crisis. Each victim had been alone in an open area, either on a sidewalk or in an alley, and each had been attacked during the early morning. Police believed the shooter was selecting people who were isolated and vulnerable.
Los Angeles officials organized an extensive effort to notify people living on the streets. Police officers, homeless-service workers and community organizations traveled through encampments and areas where unhoused residents frequently slept. Emergency shelters expanded their availability, and officials urged people not to remain outside alone.
Surveillance recordings from the crime scenes reportedly showed a lone male suspect and a gray BMW. Although the available images were not always clear enough to identify the driver, the vehicle became a significant connection between the shootings.
Powell’s Arrest
Investigators in the Simbolon case used surveillance recordings and automated license-plate readers to identify the BMW believed to have followed Simbolon home. On the night of November 29, a license-plate-reading system in Beverly Hills detected a vehicle matching the description.
Beverly Hills police officers conducted a traffic stop and detained Powell during the early hours of November 30, 2023. Officers found a handgun inside the vehicle. Powell was initially transferred to the custody of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and booked in connection with the robbery and killing of Simbolon.
At that time, investigators had not publicly announced that Powell was suspected of killing the three unhoused men. Detectives from the sheriff’s department and the Los Angeles Police Department compared the handgun recovered from Powell’s vehicle with ballistic evidence collected from the other murder scenes.
The Ballistic Connection
Forensic testing provided the central link between the four killings. Authorities announced that the handgun recovered from Powell’s BMW had been positively identified as the firearm used in the three fatal shootings of the unhoused men.
The ballistic findings connected the attacks even though the victims apparently did not know one another and the Simbolon killing occurred under different circumstances. Bolanos, Diggs and Alvarez were attacked while alone in public locations. Simbolon was followed to his private residence and robbed before being shot.
Investigators also relied on surveillance footage, the repeated appearance of the BMW and evidence concerning Powell’s movements. Authorities said the combined evidence allowed them to associate Powell with all four deaths.
Criminal Charges
On December 4, 2023, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office charged Powell with four counts of murder. He was also charged with residential robbery and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
The murder charges included special-circumstance allegations involving multiple murders and a murder committed during the course of a robbery. Prosecutors also alleged that Powell personally used a handgun during the crimes. The robbery-related special circumstance concerned the killing of Nicholas Simbolon.
Powell had a prior criminal history that included a 2015 conviction in San Bernardino County for assault. Law-enforcement officials expressed concern that there could be additional crimes requiring investigation, although no further homicide victims had been publicly and conclusively linked to Powell.
Court Proceedings
Powell pleaded not guilty to the charges in February 2024. Because the allegations had not resulted in a conviction, he remained legally presumed innocent while the case moved through the court system.
In April 2025, criminal proceedings were suspended after a defense attorney raised concerns about Powell’s mental competency and his ability to rationally assist in his defense. A judge ordered that he undergo a competency evaluation before the prosecution could continue toward a preliminary hearing or trial.
If convicted of all charges and special-circumstance allegations, Powell could face life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. The case remained a prosecution based on accusations, forensic evidence and investigative findings rather than a final criminal judgment.
Impact of the Killings
The deaths drew attention to the extreme dangers faced by people living without permanent shelter. Bolanos, Diggs and Alvarez were killed while occupying public spaces that served as temporary places to rest. Their vulnerability, isolation and limited access to secure shelter made the attacks especially disturbing to residents and homeless-service organizations.
The murders also demonstrated how separate investigations can converge through forensic science and surveillance technology. The Simbolon investigation produced a description of a vehicle, license-plate readers helped locate it, and the firearm recovered during Powell’s arrest allegedly connected him to the other shootings.
Although the four killings occurred within only four days, they crossed neighborhood and jurisdictional boundaries. The case required cooperation among the Los Angeles Police Department, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Beverly Hills police, forensic specialists and county prosecutors.
Conclusion
Jerrid Joseph Powell stands accused of carrying out four fatal shootings between November 26 and November 29, 2023. The victims were Jose Bolanos, Mark Diggs, Nicholas Simbolon and Shawn Alvarez. Three were unhoused men attacked while alone in Los Angeles, while Simbolon was allegedly followed home to San Dimas, robbed and killed in his garage.
Powell’s arrest in connection with Simbolon’s death led investigators to the handgun that authorities said was used in the other three murders. The resulting ballistic evidence transformed several apparently separate homicides into a single prosecution involving four murder charges.
The case remains remembered for the speed of the alleged attacks, the vulnerability of the victims and the intense effort required to warn Los Angeles County’s unhoused population. Powell has been formally charged, but unless and until he is convicted in court, the allegations against him have not been legally proven.
