Brownlee back in court for new murder charges in Stockton, Oakland serial killings case

Aaron Leathley, The Record
·2 min read
Wesley Brownlee stands with public defender Allison Nobert during his arraignment in San Joaquin County Superior Court. Brownlee has been charged in four additional slayings, bringing his total to seven deaths in Northern California since April 2021, authorities said.
Wesley Brownlee stands with public defender Allison Nobert during his arraignment in San Joaquin County Superior Court. Brownlee has been charged in four additional slayings, bringing his total to seven deaths in Northern California since April 2021, authorities said.

Wesley Brownlee appeared in San Joaquin County Superior Court on Tuesday to face four new murder charges and a new attempted murder charge, bringing the total number of murder counts in the alleged serial killings case to seven.

The new murder charges stem from the killings of Juan Alexander Vasquez and Mervin Harmon in Alameda County in April 2021, and the killings of Paul Yaw and Salvador Debudey Jr. in Stockton in July and August of 2022, according to the DA's Office. The attempted murder charge stems from the shooting of Natasha LaTour in Stockton in April 2021.

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Brownlee waived his right to have the charges read aloud in court on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the court said. His attorney, Public Defender Allison Nobert, could not immediately be reached for comment.

The latest charges revealed an additional alleged victim of Brownlee's whom law enforcement has not previously identified: Mervin Harmon, an Oakland native and father, according to ABC10.

Harmon was killed on April 16, 2021 in Alameda County, the same day that LaTour was shot several times near a rail line in downtown Stockton, according to a spokesperson for the DA's office. Harmon's slaying occurred six days after Vasquez, the only other known victim from Alameda County, was killed near Harmon Avenue and 57th Avenue in Oakland.

Yaw died after being shot in Holiday Park in Stockton shortly after midnight on July 8. Debudey Jr. died after being shot outside Popeye's on West Lane in Stockton at around 9:50 p.m. on Aug. 11.

Prosecutors charged Brownlee with three counts of murder in October for allegedly shooting to death Jonathan Rodriguez Hernandez, Juan Carlos Carranza-Cruz and Lawrence Lopez in Stockton. Hernandez was shot in August and Carranza-Cruz and Lopez were shot in September.

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When asked whether additional charges will be filed against Brownlee, a spokesperson for the DA's office said the case is "an ongoing investigation." The prosecutor, Elton Grau, could not immediately be reached for comment.

This article originally appeared on The Record: Brownlee faces new murder charges in Stockton, Oakland serial killings