More charges for California man in drive-by shootings that killed four

By Alex Dobuzinskis LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A man linked to a spate of seemingly random drive-by shootings in the Los Angeles area over the summer that killed four people was charged on Thursday with several additional counts of murder stemming from the attacks, prosecutors said. The latest charges against Alexander Hernandez, 34, who has been in jail without bail since police arrested him in August, accuse him of three murders and five attempted murders, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said in a statement. Hernandez was first identified as a suspect in the drive-by shootings by animal cruelty investigators looking into the violent deaths of two dogs near his home in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles. Days after his arrest, Hernandez was charged with one count of murder for the Aug. 21 shooting death of a 48-year-old man killed in his pickup truck in the San Fernando Valley while heading to work. He also was charged with the attempted murder of a couple who came under fire as they drove around West Hollywood on Aug. 22. He was suspected at the time of his arrest in other shootings but was not charged in those deaths until Thursday because police were still investigating the attacks, said Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for the District Attorney's Office. The latest charges against Hernandez accuse him of gunning down a 59-year-old woman who was in her car waiting to go to church in the Pacoima neighborhood, and shooting to death a 29-year-old man standing in a parking lot in the Sylmar area. Both attacks occurred on Aug. 24 in the San Fernando Valley. The same day in the San Fernando Valley, Hernandez opened fire on a family in a car and killed a 23-year-old man and wounded his parents, prosecutors said. Charges of murder and attempted murder from that attack were filed on Thursday. Hernandez was also charged on Thursday for attempted murder for shooting and wounding a 42-year-old woman in the Atwater Village area on Aug. 20, prosecutors said. In all, the 22 counts against Hernandez include four counts of murder, seven counts of attempted murder and three counts of animal cruelty. He faces the possibility of the death penalty if convicted. Hernandez did not enter a plea at a court appearance on Thursday and his attorney could not be reached for comment. (Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Mohammad Zargham)