Loved ones are mourning the victim of a mass stabbing that left two dead and three others hospitalized in Huntington Beach.
The violence erupted during a Fourth of July fireworks celebration near 16th Street and Pecan Avenue at around 11 p.m.
A large group was gathered outside in the neighborhood when suddenly, a Mini Cooper pulled up and a man got out and began stabbing people.
The violent confrontation left two people dead and three others injured.
The two victims who died were identified as Eric Hodges, 42, and his friend William Collins, 47. Hodges was stabbed in the heart and Collins was stabbed in the lung and neck.
The other victims were left with non-life-threatening stab wounds and were only identified as two 35-year-old men and a 68-year-old man.
The suspect, Logan Christopher Kelley, 26, of Redondo Beach, had allegedly been drinking alcohol and taking hallucinogenic drugs at the time.
Kelley was tackled to the ground by two men at the celebration and subdued until officers arrived. At one point, Kelley assaulted a teen boy who had helped detain the man, police said.
Loved ones are remembering Hodges and how much he meant to those around them.
“Honestly, he’s one of the best people you would ever meet,” said Adam Cook, Hodges’ best friend. “He was an anomaly. He was the guy who was always happy no matter what. He meant the world to me, but especially to his fiancée.”
Hodges and his fiancée, Jourdan, were planning to be married in September.
“Those two, they’ve been together for 17 years and I always told them, ‘It’s like you guys just met last week,’” Cook said of the couples’ love for each other. “They were in this constant honeymoon phase.”
Hodges, Collins and their group of friends were sitting outside their apartment complex enjoying the local fireworks show when they were murdered.
Investigators said Kelley did not know the group of victims before the deadly attack.
“From what I can gather, the people in that Mini Cooper were going block to block causing havoc and escalating things as they moved [in our direction] and when they got here, Kelley just got out of the car and started stabbing people,” Cook said.
He was 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 was also charged with a felony enhancement of the 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,” said the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
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 O.C. District Attorney Todd Spitzer. 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.”
A GoFundMe to help Hodges’ family with funeral service expenses can be found here.
“He was a beacon of light in all of our lives,” Cook said. “He inspired all of us and he will be greatly missed.”