Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

LOS ANGELES - The man accused of stabbing two family members to death, a portion of the crime that was witnessed on a live Zoom meeting, was officially charged Monday.

Robert Anderson Cotton, 32, faces two counts of murder with an allegation of using a knife as a deadly and dangerous weapon.

Cotton’s arraignment was continued to April 5. He is accused of killing mother Carol Brown, 67, and uncle Kenneth Preston, 69, at the house they all shared in the 3000 block of North Marengo Avenue March 22.

The bodies were discovered after police were called around 2:50 p.m. in the 3000 block of North Marengo Avenue.

Brown was a 15-year-member of Pasadena City College and was reportedly in the middle of a work meeting on Zoom when a suspect, later identified as Cotton, entered the room and kidnapped her. Coworkers called 9-1-1.

Cotton was not at the scene when deputies arrived, but returned in a vehicle either belonging to Brown or Preston, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide investigators.

Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

PASADENA – A man hell-bent for leather on getting food while maskless was identified and charged with robbery of the Roscoe’s House of Chicken and Waffles, police said.

Steven Carlos Williams, a 43-year-old Duarte man, was identified at the man who robbed the restaurant February 3. Williams was reportedly already in custody, arrested by Sheriff’s deputies several days after the Roscoe’s robbery on an unrelated crime, according to the Pasadena Police Department.

Williams is accused of taking food orders at gunpoint at the restaurant, 830 N. Lake Ave. Employees insisted that the suspect mask-up. The suspect became irate and brandished a handgun.

>>THE FULL STORY: Armed Man, In a Tiff Over mask Compliance, Robs Pasadena Restaurant

The suspect reportedly entered the kitchen and demanded that food be placed in a bag. Surveillance cameras captured the man leaving with a plateful of food.

Four employees fled the restaurant.

The suspect entered the restaurant with a friend. The friend remained in the restaurant until the food was taken. Both men soon fled the location in a dark-colored sedan.

The case was presented to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office February 26. Williams was officially charged with two counts of robbery and two counts of assault with a firearm. He was arraigned February 26, Pasadena Police said.

Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

PASADENA - A man and woman were wounded, one of them fatally, by gunfire in a shooting March 13.

Both victims were sitting in a vehicle parked in the 2500 block of East Foothill Boulevard when a suspect approached and opened fire. A 23-year-old Azusa man died after being hospitalized. A 19-year-old Duarte woman was treated for injuries considered not life-threatening and released from the hospital, according to the Pasadena Police Department.

Police responded to the scene just before 9 p.m. Saturday to find the man had been shot multiple times. The woman had minor injuries.

Detectives believe one man was responsible for the shooting. He fled the scene after the gunfire. He is described as a Black male in dark-colored clothing, Pasadena Police said.

Anyone with information on this shooting is urged to call the Pasadena Police Department at 626-744-4241. Information can be provided anonymously by calling LA Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), through the P3Tips mobile app, or lacrimestoppers.org.