Suspected Stockton serial killer charged with four additional deaths

A man suspected in northern California serial killings has been charged in four additional slayings this week, bringing the total to seven deaths since April 2021, authorities said.

Brownlee was initially only charged in the deaths of three victims in Stockton: Jonathan Rodriguez Hernandez, 21, who died on 30 August; Juan Cruz, 52, who died on 21 September; and Lawrence Lopez Sr, 54, who died on 27 September.

The amended complaint, filed on Tuesday, additionally charges Brownlee with the killings of Paul Yaw, 35, who died on 8 July, and Salvador Debudey Jr, 43, who died on 11 August, in Stockton, as well as the Alameda county fatal shootings of Juan Vasquez Serrano, 39, on 10 April 2021 and Mervin Harmon on 16 April 2021.

He is also charged with attempted murder in the 16 April 2021, shooting of Natasha LaTour, 46.

In January 1999, Brownlee was sentenced to two years in prison in Alameda county, which encompasses the city of Oakland, for possessing and selling a controlled substance, the California corrections department said. He was released on parole in August 1999 after serving seven months.

Brownlee was again convicted in Alameda county in December 2001 and sentenced to three years for the same crime. He was paroled in May 2003 and discharged three years later.