Man accused of killing 2 strangers at Huntington Beach July 4th festivities faces murder charges

A man accused of stabbing two strangers to death during Fourth of July festivities in Huntington Beach and injuring another three people is facing murder charges, the Orange County District Attorney's Office said Tuesday.

Logan Christopher Kelley, a 26-year-old man from Redondo Beach, allegedly attacked several people after drinking and taking hallucinogenic drugs, targeting a group of people who were watching fireworks being lit in the street just after 11 p.m. on July 4, according to prosecutors. He is accused of approaching them near the intersection of Pecan Avenue and 16th Street before allegedly stabbing a number of people with a knife. 

Eric Hodges, 42, died after Kelley allegedly stabbed him in the heart while William Collins, 47, died after being stabbed in the neck and lung, according to prosecutors. Both men lived in Huntington Beach.

Kelley is accused of stabbing and injuring another two men, both 35, as well as the 68-year-old father of one of the two injured men. He is also being charged with allegedly assaulting a 16-year-old boy who tried to help detain him. 

Prosecutors allege he also used a racial slur and spat on a Huntington Beach police officer while being arrested.

The 26-year-old defendant faces two felony counts of murder, three felony accounts of attempted murder, one felony count of assault with a deadly weapon and one misdemeanor count of battery on a police officer. The DA's office has also filed special circumstance allegations, carrying potential sentencing enhancements, of multiple murders and personal use of a deadly weapon.

He was scheduled to appear in court Tuesday but the arraignment was postponed until July 30.

Although Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a moratorium on capital punishment in California in 2019, the Orange County DA's office said in a statement that the charges against Kelley make him eligible for a special hearing during which prosecutors may decide to pursue the death penalty. Last week, DA Todd Spitzer said prosecutors could also potentially pursue a death sentence for the three suspects in the killing of a 68-year-old woman outside a Newport Beach mall.

In a statement, Spitzer said Kelley had allegedly targeted people he didn't even know, making the seemingly random homicides all the more unsettling.

"A day celebrating America and all the freedoms we all enjoy turned into deadly chaos at the hands of a stranger," Spitzer said. "We as Americans should be able to enjoy spending time with our friends and families without worrying about being brutally stabbed in the street in a random attack."

Huntington Beach's annual Fourth of July parade and celebration draws huge crowds each year. Jack Behimer, who has lived in the area for more than 30 years, said he was shocked when he heard the news the next morning.

"I've never experienced that before," Behimer said. "I mean it's always been kind of a crazy town on Fourth of July, back in the 90s there were some issues down here, but not since then that I'm aware of anyway."