O.C. cold case murder suspect at the Theo Lacy jail dies of COVID-19

ORANGE, Ca. (December 18, 2020) –A 68-year-old male inmate housed at the Theo Lacy Facility in Orange died this morning at 5 a.m. of medical complications after testing positive for COVID-19.

The inmate, Eddie Lee Anderson of River Ridge, LA, was booked into jail by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department on July 1, 2019 on suspicion of homicide.

Anderson is suspected of the 1976 murder of Leslie Penrod Harris, and was identified in 2019 by the Orange County Cold Case Homicide Task Force.

Anderson tested positive for COVID-19 within the last week, and was transferred to a local hospital on December 13. He is the first Orange County Jail inmate to die from medical complications of COVID-19. Since the beginning of the pandemic, 1,260 Orange County Jail inmates have tested positive for COVID-19.

The Orange County District Attorney’s Office will investigate the in-custody death. The Orange County Sheriff’s Department will conduct an in-custody death review. No additional information will be released at this time.

Art Pedroza Editor

Our Editor, Art Pedroza, worked at the O.C. Register and the OC Weekly and studied journalism at CSUF and UCI. He has lived in Santa Ana for over 30 years and has served on several city and county commissions. When he is not writing or editing Pedroza specializes in risk control and occupational safety. He also teaches part time at Cerritos College and CSUF. Pedroza has an MBA from Keller University.

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