SANTA ANA, Calif. – A Redondo Beach man has been charged with special circumstances murder for stabbing five strangers during a Fourth of July fireworks celebration, killing two men and injuring three others in Huntington Beach, after drinking and taking hallucinogenic drugs. He is also charged with assaulting a teenage boy while he helped to keep him detained following the fatal attack on a group of strangers, according to the OCDA.
Logan Christopher Kelley, 26, of Redondo Beach, has been charged with 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.
The special circumstances murder charges make Kelley eligible for a maximum sentence of the death penalty or life without the possibility of parole. The Orange County District Attorney’s Office convenes a special circumstances committee after the preliminary hearing is held to determine whether to pursue the death penalty in special circumstances murder cases. This process includes a presentation of the case by the prosecutor as well as from the defense. The elected District Attorney makes the ultimate decision whether to pursue death following that process. If the decision is not to pursue death, then the maximum sentence is life without the possibility of parole.
Kelley is scheduled to be arraigned today in Department C5 at the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana.
Just after 11 p.m. on July 4, 2024, a group of people were watching fireworks being ignited in the street near the intersection of Pecan Avenue and 16th Street when a man later identified as Logan Kelley approached and started stabbing people with a knife. Kelley is not believed to have had any prior relationship with the group prior to the attack.
Eric Hodges, 42, was stabbed in the heart, and William Collins, 47, was stabbed in the lung and neck. Both died from their wounds. Two 35-year-old men along with one of the injured men’s 68-year-old father were also stabbed in the attack, but their injuries were not life-threatening.
Several people, including a 16-year-old boy, helped detain Kelley until police arrived. Kelley is accused of spitting on a Huntington Beach police officer and using a racial slur while he was being arrested.
“A day of celebrating America and all the freedoms we all enjoy turned into deadly chaos at the hands of a stranger,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “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. Violence of any kind will never be acceptable and while we mourn the loss of Eric and William we remain steadfast in our commitment to justice to hold their killer accountable for their deaths and the trauma he inflicted on those he injured and those who witnessed this carnage.”
Senior Deputy District Attorney Lexie Elliot of the Homicide Unit is prosecuting this case.
