This man from California named Rockim Prowell apparently met these two men on a dating app and then, get this, he allegedly ends up killing them! Like, what the actual heck?! It’s like something straight out of a crime show.
I mean, seriously, who does that kind of stuff? It’s just insane to think that someone you meet online could turn out to be a total psycho.
Rockim Prowell, 34, of Inglewood, has been charged with two counts of murder for the deaths of men prosecutors say he met through an unnamed dating app in 2021 and 2023.
The third alleged victim also met the suspect through the same dating app in February, prosecutors said. After being bound and beaten with a baseball bat, the man managed to escape, police 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 Monday announcing the charges. “These were predatory acts that showed a total disregard of life. This suspect has now been stopped in his tracks because of the diligent and tenacious work done by investigators at both the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.”
Vehicles stolen from the two murder victims were linked to Prowell, according to prosecutors, who said the suspect is a serial burglar.
One of the victims, 51-year-old Miguel Angel King, met with Prowell on July 20, 2021, after connecting with the suspect on the dating app, according to prosecutors. Prosecutors allege Prowell murdered King, then stole the victim’s vehicle, which was found more than a week later, several miles from Prowell’s home.
“Forensic evidence recovered from the vehicle linked Prowell to the slaying,” the district attorney’s office said.
King’s remains were ultimately found in the Angeles National Forest in August 2021, prosecutors said.
Two years later, on Aug. 21, 2023, prosecutors said Prowell agreed to meet with the second murder victim — 53-year-old Robert Gutierrez — about a mile from the suspect’s home after interacting through the dating app. Gutierrez’s family reported him missing two days later, and his body was never found, prosecutors said.
On Feb. 22, prosecutors say Prowell met with a 40-year-old man he had connected with through the dating app about four miles from the suspect’s home.
“Prowell allegedly bound the victim, stole his wallet and beat him with a baseball bat,” the district attorney’s office said. “The victim managed to escape but Prowell chased the man in a vehicle, striking him and breaking his leg.”
When Prowell was arrested last week, they found Gutierrez’s car in his garage, prosecutors said.
Let this be a lesson to all of us – be careful who you meet up with, even if it’s just for a date. You never know what kind of crazy stuff people are capable of. Stay safe out there, y’all!
