COMPTON – A 31-year-old man accused of fatally stabbing two women and wounding one other person was charged today with capital murder, the District Attorneys’ Office announced.
Deputy District Attorney Jodi Link of the Compton Branch Office said Virgil Tyrone Tate (dob 01/29/81) is expected to be arraigned tomorrow in Department 12 of Compton Superior Court.
Tate is charged with two counts of murder and one count of attempted, willful, deliberate and premeditated murder in case No. TA121825. The complaint includes a special circumstance allegation of multiple murders.
The charging document further alleges that the defendant personally used a deadly and dangerous weapon, a knife, in the commission of the murders and attempted murder, and personally inflicted great bodily injury upon the only surviving victim.
Tate is accused of killing his longtime girlfriend Tracie Brooks, 32, and her mother Carol Susan Brooks, 58, on Jan. 29. A male roommate was injured in the attack, the prosecutor said.
The defendant lived with the victims at a condominium in an unincorporated area of Torrance.
Tate was arrested after a brief standoff by Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies. He is being held without bail.
If convicted as charged, the defendant faces life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty. A decision on whether to seek the death penalty against Tate will be made by the District Attorney’s office as the case moves closer to trial.
