SANTA ANA, Calif. – A 20-year-old Los Angeles man will be charged with three felony counts of special circumstances murder in connection with a robbery spree targeting convenience stores that left at least three dead and another three people wounded across several Southern California counties. The man’s 44-year-old neighbor will be charged with felonies in connection with several of the robberies that occurred in Orange County on July 11, 2022.
Authorities across Southern California are continuing to investigate numerous other crimes believed to be connected to the pair, including an attempted murder at a Riverside 7-Eleven and robberies in Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and Riverside counties.
Malik Patt, 20, of Los Angeles, will be charged with three felony counts of murder with the special circumstance of multiple murder, two counts of attempted murder with the personal discharge of a firearm causing injury, three felony counts of robbery with an enhancement of personal use of a firearm, and one felony count of carjacking while personally armed, Patt will also be charged with two additional special circumstance enhancements of murder in the commission of a robbery and three enhancements for personal discharge of a firearm causing death.
“This is a stone-cold serial killer who executed innocent people,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “Every time he walked into another donut shop or convenience store, the clerk behind the cash register had no idea the death and destruction that he had already left in his path – and that they could be his next target. He could have taken the money and left them alive, but instead he chose to kill whoever and whenever he wanted. And he would have kept killing if it weren’t for the amazing work of law enforcement to identify these individuals and arrest them so quickly. This is law enforcement at its best – working together to ensure that violent criminals are taken off our streets and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said investigators are still working to determine if the suspects are connected to similar crimes in his jurisdiction.
“Criminals know no boundaries,” said Villanueva who explained a multi-agency task force worked long and hard to catch the suspects.
Patt could face the death penalty if convicted. He is currently being held without bail.
Patt’s neighbor, Jason Payne, 44, of Los Angeles, has been charged with three felony counts of robbery and one felony count of attempted robbery in connection with robberies that occurred in Santa Ana, La Habra and Brea and an attempted robbery that occurred on July 11, 2022.
He faces a maximum sentence of approximately 9 ½ years in state prison if convicted. Patt and Payne are scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday, July 19, 2022.
California state law allows serial murders that occurred in other counties to be consolidated and prosecuted in a single county in the interest of judicial efficiency and to prevent victims from having to endure multiple court proceedings in different jurisdictions.
Spitzer said any trial will be held in one county for most of the alleged crimes. The robberies that occurred in Ontario and Upland would be handled in San Bernardino County, Spitzer said. Orange County will prosecute the shooting at the 7-Eleven in Riverside if the victim dies, but it will be prosecuted in Riverside County if the victim survives the attack, Spitzer said.
