Prosecutors in California have charged a 34-year-old man with killing two men whom he met via a smartphone dating application and trying to kill a third.

Sept. 9 (UPI) -- Prosecutors in California have charged a 34-year-old man with killing two men whom he met via a smartphone dating application and trying to kill a third.

Rockim Prowell, of Inglewood, Calif., was to be arraigned in court Monday when he was charged with two counts of murder, one count of attempted murder, two counts each of carjacking and second-degree burglary and one count of assault with a deadly weapon.

The charges were announced in a statement by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office on Monday. Prowell was arrested last week, it said.

According to court documents, Prowell is alleged to have used the dating app to lure his victims, including Miguel Angel King, 51, whom Prowell is accused of fatally shooting on July 20, 2021.

Prowell is also accused of killing 53-year-old Robert Gutierrez on Aug. 21, 2023, at a location a mile from the suspect's home where they had agreed to meet at via the dating app.

His third alleged victim is an unnamed 40-year-old man who allegedly agreed to meet Prowell about four miles from the suspect's home.

The attorney's office said, "Prowell allegedly bound the victim, stole his wallet and beat him with a baseball bat."

"The victim managed to escape, but Prowell chased the man in a vehicle, striking him and breaking his leg."

Authorities connected Prowell to the killing of King by forensic evidence recovered from the victim's car, which prosecutors said he stole following the shooting.

King's body was found nearly a month after his death in the Angeles National Forest.

Gutierrez's body is still missing, but the attorney's office said that when officers arrested Prowell last week, they found Gutierrez's car in the suspect's garage.

"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 District Attorney Nathan Hochman said.

"These were predatory acts that showed a total disregard for life."

Prowell -- who faces death or life in state prison without the possibility of parole if convicted -- was on probation for a series of burglaries committed in the Beverly Hills and Los Angeles areas between 2019 and 2021.