Second murder pinned on Malibu killing suspect
The man charged in the murder of a musician whose body was found last summer inside a barrel at Malibu Lagoon State Beach has been charged with a second murder, committed a year ago in Inglewood, police say.
Joshua Lee Simmons faces charges in the fatal shooting of Anthony Soloc, 50, Jan. 20 at a home on the 2300 block of West 79th Street. Inglewood police officers found Soloc’s body in front of the home with a single gunshot wound to the head. Neighbors reported hearing a shooting around 5:00 a.m.
Los Angeles County sheriff’s detectives arrested Simmons in October after tying him to a body recovered from the Malibu lagoon. Simmons was charged in the killing of Javonnta Murphy, who was fatally shot before his body was placed inside a 55-gallon plastic drum and dumped into the lagoon.
Prosecutors allege that Simmons shot Murphy, 32, on July 27, three days before a maintenance worker spotted the barrel in a shallow inlet. The worker paddled out in a kayak and pulled the container to the shore but didn’t open it. The next day, a lifeguard saw the barrel back in the lagoon, swam out and brought it to the beach, where he opened it and discovered the body.
Prosecutors allege that an accomplice, Dennis Eugene Vance, helped cover up the fatal shooting of Murphy and have charged him as an accessory after the fact.
Simmons is also charged with making criminal threats against Brandon Gray on the same day he is accused of killing Murphy. Gray was taken into custody at the Malibu/Lost Hills sheriff ’s station on Oct. 5 but was not charged.
Simmons is also the suspect in an attempted robbery Sept. 2 at Meza Jewelry in El Monte that was thwarted by the store’s owner and family members.
Surveillance cameras captured the burglar around 2 p.m. walking on Main Street dressed in black and a face mask and carrying a cardboard box. Authorities say Simmons used a hammer to break into display cases in the store and sprayed bear repellent on workers. A video identifying Simmons as the suspect was circulated by detectives seeking to apprehend him just days after the attempted robbery.
Simmons and Vance were arrested Oct. 3. Two days later, Simmons was charged with Murphy’s murder, the criminal threats against Gray, attempted robbery of the jewelry store and two counts of criminal threats against its owner.
Simmons is is being held on bail of nearly $3.28 million in Men’s Central Jail of L.A. County. Vance has been released on a $50,000 bond.
Court records show that Simmons has a history of violent offenses, including a 2019 conviction for assault with a deadly weapon in connection with a 2013 crime.
Murphy grew up in South L.A. and was living in Sylmar at the time he was killed, according to authorities.
He was pursuing a career in rap music and had a young son.
“He was a good kid, good person,” said Patrick Nelson, a family friend. “He didn’t gangbang. What happened to him, I just don’t understand.”