A Redondo Beach man was charged for deadly stabbings during a Fourth of July fireworks celebration in Huntington Beach while being under the influence of alcohol and drugs, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday.
Logan Christopher Kelley, 26, was accused of stabbing five strangers, killing two men and injuring three others, after drinking and taking hallucinogenic drugs.
The DA’s office said Kelley also assaulted a teenage boy while the minor helped to keep Kelley detained following the attack.
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Kelley faces two felony counts of murder with the special circumstance of multiple murders, three felony counts of attempted murder, one felony count of assault with a deadly weapon and one misdemeanor count of battery on a police officer. He has also been charged with a felony enhancement of personal use of a deadly weapon.
As the special circumstances murder charges would make him eligible for a maximum sentence of the death penalty or life without the possibility of parole, the DA’s Office was expected to convene a special circumstance committee to determine whether to pursue the death penalty.
On the Fourth of July holiday, officers responded to a report of an assault with a deadly weapon near 16th Street and Pecan Avenue around 11:15 p.m.
As Kelley approached and started stabbing people that he had not known previously, Eric Hodges, 42, and William Collins, 47, died from their stab wounds. Three other men also suffered non life-threatening injuries.
