A 52-year-old man was charged this week with fatally stabbing his elderly roommate in a Long Beach apartment, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
Los Angeles resident William Earl Wilson, 52, was charged Tuesday with one count of murder, officials stated. The felony complaint includes a special allegation that he used a deadly and dangerous weapon, a knife, during the commission of the crime.
He is scheduled to be arraigned today at the Long Beach Courthouse during which prosecutors will ask for bail to be set at $2.02 million.
Authorities said Wilson allegedly stabbed the 72-year-old victim from Long Beach early morning on Monday, September 19 at an apartment on the 1400 block of East 3rd Street in Alamitos Beach.
When officers responded at about 2:10AM regarding reports of an altercation, they found the victim with a stab wound to his upper torso. The victim was transported by Long Beach paramedics to a local hospital where he died from his injuries.
Wilson remained at the scene and was eventually arrested.
Prosecutors said that Wilson and the victim were staying with a friend at a Long Beach apartment at the time of the stabbing, and that both of them reportedly slept in the living room.
Wilson faces a maximum possible sentence of 26 years to life in state prison if convicted as charged.
According to the charging document, Wilson allegedly was previously convicted of grand theft auto in 2003 and unlawful driving or taking of a vehicle in 2003 and 2004.
The case is assigned to Deputy District Attorney Tony Cho of the Elder Abuse Section and is being investigated by the Long Beach Police Department (LBPD).