A Los Angeles County grand jury on Monday returned charges against Rockim Prowell, 34, of Inglewood, accusing him of using an online dating app to lure men to meetings that prosecutors say ended in two killings, a disappearance and a near-fatal assault.
Prosecutors charged Prowell with two counts of murder with a special circumstance allegation of multiple murders, along with one count of attempted murder, two counts of carjacking, two counts of second-degree burglary and one count of assault with a deadly weapon, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said.
According to the DA's office, the first alleged victim, Miguel Angel King, 51, met Prowell on an unnamed dating app and arranged to meet on July 20, 2021. Prosecutors say Prowell fatally shot King and stole his vehicle, which was found more than a week later a few miles from Prowell’s home. Forensic evidence recovered from the car linked Prowell to the killing. King’s remains were located on Aug. 14, 2021, in the Angeles National Forest.
Nearly two years later, the charges say, a second man, Robert Gutierrez, 53, connected with Prowell on the same dating platform and met him on Aug. 21, 2023, about a mile from Prowell’s residence. Gutierrez’s family reported him missing two days later. Investigators said that when they arrested Prowell last week they found Gutierrez’s car in Prowell’s garage and recovered additional evidence tying him to the case; Gutierrez’s body has not been found.
Prosecutors also allege a Feb. 22 attack in which Prowell lured a 40-year-old man he met through the same dating service to a location about four miles from Prowell’s home, bound the man, stole his wallet and beat him with a baseball bat. The victim escaped, but Prowell then pursued him in a vehicle, striking him and leaving him with a broken leg, the DA's office said.
"Imagine the terror and horror these victims felt after being duped into believing they were meeting for one reason, only to face inexplicable violence," Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said in a statement. "These were predatory acts that showed a total disregard of life."
The DA's office said Prowell is on probation in two separate cases tied to a string of burglaries in Beverly Hills and Los Angeles between 2019 and 2021. Local reporting by an affiliate of Fox News indicated investigators may link him to more than 30 masked burglaries across Southern California. Authorities said they recovered a mask from a vehicle Prowell was driving that appeared to resemble a young white man's face; it was not immediately clear whether the mask was used in the alleged dating-app incidents.
If convicted on the charges as filed, Prowell faces either the death penalty or life in state prison without the possibility of parole. The DA's office said a later decision will determine whether prosecutors will seek capital punishment.
The Beverly Hills Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office declined a request for additional comment, the news release said.
Prosecutors said investigators continue to probe the cases to determine whether there are additional victims and to establish a full timeline for the alleged crimes. Court filings list Prowell's address in Inglewood, and law enforcement officials said he was arrested last week in connection with the cases.
The charges were filed Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court. The DA's office said it will continue to coordinate with local law enforcement agencies as the investigation proceeds and additional evidence is reviewed.