Preliminary hearing date set for man suspected of killing beloved US bishop

LOS ANGELES (OSV News) -- A preliminary hearing date was scheduled in the case of the man suspected in the shooting death of Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop David O'Connell in his Hacienda Heights home in February 2023.

Carlos Medina, 63, is charged with one felony count of murder and a special allegation that he used a firearm. During a court appearance on Aug. 6, Medina's preliminary hearing was scheduled for Oct. 17, where a judge will determine if there is enough evidence for Medina to stand trial.

Bishop O'Connell, a beloved bishop who came from Ireland, was found dead in his home by a deacon after he was deemed late for a meeting, authorities said.

On Feb. 20, 2023, after a six-hour standoff with police, Medina was arrested at his Torrance home. Medina is the husband of Bishop O'Connell's housekeeper and had done work at his home in Hacienda Heights, authorities said.

Medina admitted to the killing, said Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón during a 2023 press conference, but a motive for the shooting has not yet been revealed.

In March 2023, Medina pleaded not guilty. If convicted, he faces up to 35 years to life in prison.
Bishop O'Connell was originally from Brooklodge, Glanmire in County Cork, the southernmost county in Ireland. He studied for the priesthood at the former All Hallows College in Dublin and was ordained a priest to serve in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in 1979.

He became known as "the Peacemaker" for his work to prevent gang violence and to help immigrants. He helped make peace in the wake of the 1992 Los Angeles riots. Pope Francis named him an auxiliary bishop for the Los Angeles Archdiocese's San Gabriel Pastoral Region in 2015.

Bishop O'Connell is the second Catholic bishop in U.S. history known to have been a victim of homicide within the United States or its territories. The first was Archbishop Charles John Seghers, a Belgian missionary known as the "apostle to Alaska," who was killed Nov. 28, 1886, near Nulato, in the then-U.S. territory of Alaska, by his guide who went insane.