Update: The police have taken into custody Carlos Medina, the husband of the late Bishop David O’Connell’s housekeeper, who is said to have claimed that the bishop owed him money.
LOS ANGELES (LifeSiteNews) — Local authorities announced Monday that a suspect has been arrested for fatally shooting a Catholic bishop in Los Angeles over the weekend.
The person of interest was taken into custody after Bishop David O’Connell, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, was found dead on Saturday afternoon.
O’Connell was found in a home in Hacienda Heights before 1 p.m. on Saturday afternoon. The next day, authorities announced that suicide had been ruled out as a cause of death and that police were investigating the incident as a homicide.
As previously reported by LifeSiteNews, O’Connell was active in the pro-life movement, including prayer vigils outside of California Planned Parenthood facilities. He was a priest for 45 years.
According to Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles, O’Connell also had a devotion to the Blessed Mother and “a passion for building a community where the sanctity and dignity of every human life was honored and protected.”
Pro-life activist Lila Rose, whose work is also based in California, described O’Connell as “a true shepherd” who was “passionately pro-life.”
Just devastating. From so many who knew him — Bishop O’Connell was loving, humble, kind. Passionately prolife, passionate in service of immigrants and low-income families. A true shepherd. Murdered in Los Angeles. Lord have mercy. https://t.co/iQRhVgzN4q
— Lila Rose (@LilaGraceRose) February 19, 2023