Suspect in fatal 7-Eleven robbery spree in Southern California to be charged with three counts of murder

The primary suspect in the string of violent robberies that hit 7-Eleven stores earlier this month will be charged with three counts of murder, local authorities said Monday. The charging announcement comes after two people were killed and three others were wounded in the early-morning robberies on July 11.

Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said 20-year-old Malik Patt is facing a slew of charges and special enhancements, including three felony counts of murder with the special circumstance of multiple murder and two counts of attempted murder with the personal discharge of a firearm causing injury. He is also facing robbery and carjacking charges. 

Those charges encompass the 7-Eleven attacks as well as the murder of a homeless man two days earlier. Police say Patt fatally shot the man in the head while he was sleeping in North Hills in Los Angeles County. 

If convicted, Patt could face the death penalty or life without parole.  

"Malik Patt is a stone cold serial killer, there is no other way to describe him," Spitzer said. "He executed innocent people and he shot others, and his behavior and the crime spree he engaged in is - literally I just got chills up my own spine - It's chilling." 

The second suspect, 44-year-old Jason Payne, was charged with three counts of robbery and one count of attempted robbery, Spitzer said. He said Payne was Patt's neighbor and that the pair had a "significant kinship," but did not elaborate.   

On Friday authorities announced the pair had been arrested following the string of armed robberies that took place over a five-hour time span last week at six 7-Eleven stores. 

The victims included 40-year-old Matthew Hirsch, a 7-Eleven clerk who was shot and killed at a Brea store, and 24-year-old Matthew Rule, who was shot and killed in the parking lot of a 7-Eleven store in Santa Ana after attempting to stop the suspect from robbing another person, Santa Ana Police Chief David Valentin said.