A COVID-19 patient at a California hospital allegedly struck and killed his roommate with an oxygen tank because he was “upset when the victim started to pray,” the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said Wednesday.
Jesse Martinez, 37, has been arrested on suspicion of a hate crime murder and elder abuse, the sheriff’s office said in a news release. The victim, an 82-year-old Hispanic man, was sharing a two-person room with Martinez at Antelope Valley Hospital in Lancaster in northern Los Angeles County.
The men, who didn’t know each other, were both receiving treatment for COVID-19, according to the department.
“The suspect became upset when the victim started to pray. He then struck the victim with an oxygen tank,” authorities said in the release. The victim died from his injuries the next day.
Martinez is set to appear in court Dec. 28, authorities said, and his bail has been set at $1 million.
