Man arrested over death of Irish bishop David O’Connell in LA held on $2m bail

Carlos Medina (61) was arrested on Monday in connection with the fatal shooting of Auxiliary Bishop David O’Connell (69) after police were tipped off by a neighbour, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said.

Los Angeles County Jail records suggest that Medina is being held on a felony charge, but the specific offence has not yet been identified.

It is not known if Medina has an attorney who can speak on his behalf.

O’Connell was shot dead on Saturday afternoon in the bedroom of his home in Hacienda Heights, a suburban community in Los Angeles, Luna said during a news conference on Monday.

A deacon who had gone to check on O'Connell found him after he failed to show up for a meeting and contacted authorities.

A SWAT team later arrested Carlos Medina, who is the husband of O’Connell’s housekeeper, at their home in Torrance after a standoff with police on Monday.

Luna said detectives first linked Medina to the crime after finding surveillance footage that showed his SUV in the driveway of O'Connell’s home at the time of the killing.

A caller told authorities that Medina was acting irrationally and had made comments about O’Connell “owing him money,” the sheriff added, although he was not certain that there had been any dispute between the two.

He said that a motive in the killing remains under investigation and detectives are “interviewing multiple witnesses to find out and get a better picture of what happened”.

Luna said that a search of Medina’s home recovered two firearms in addition to “other evidence possibly linking Medina to the crime”.

He added that detectives found no evidence of forced entry at O'Connell’s archdiocese-owned home and that Medina’s wife was cooperating with the investigation.

Medina had done some work at the bishop’s home prior to the shooting, according to Luna, although the sheriff did not elaborate on any specific details.

“My heart grieves although I personally did not know the bishop,” Luna said.

“This bishop made a huge difference in our community. He was loved.”

O’Connell had been a priest for 45 years and was from Ireland, according to Angelus News, the news outlet of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

In 2015, Pope Francis named him one of several auxiliary bishops of the archdiocese.

O’Connell worked in South Los Angeles for years and focused on gang intervention, the publication reported.

In recent years, he also spearheaded Catholic efforts in the region to work with immigrant children and families from Central America.