Michael Hendrix Planells, 29

Michael Hendrix Planells, a 29-year-old Latino, was shot and killed early Sunday, Aug. 24, 2014, in the parking lot of 13109 Borden Avenue in Sylmar,  according to the Los Angeles Police Department. 

Planells was looking for cans to recycle around the Sylmar Recreation Center when he was shot, about 6:35 a.m., investigators said. He died at the scene. 

Investigators believe Planells was one of three people killed in a one-hour shooting spree that morning in the Pacoima-San Fernando area. 

Mariana Franco, 23, was shot and killed about 5:50 a.m. in the 1400 block of Celis Street in San Fernando as she was riding in a car with her family to go to early morning Mass. And Gloria Tovar, 59, was shot and killed about 6:45 a.m. as she sat in her car, waiting to drive a friend to church, in the 12900 block of Filmore Street in Pacoima. 

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office has charged Alexander Hernandez, 34, of Sylmar, with five counts of capital murder and 10 counts of attempted murder in connection with the apparently random shootings.

Prosecutors say Hernandez shot at 15 people in the San Fernando Valley between March and August of 2014, killing five and injuring eight. 

Hernandez is also accused of killing Sergio Sanchez, 35, as he was driving home from work early in the morning of March 14, 2014, near the Roxford Street offramp to the 210 Freeway, and Gildardo Morales, 48, as he was driving to work in Pacoima on Aug. 21. 

— Jeanette Marantos

Note: Law enforcement has placed Planells' autopsy on a so-called security hold. The Times will update this entry once the hold is lifted.