Pair charged with killing 2 USC students

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LOS ANGELES, May 23 (UPI) -- Two Los Angeles men were charged Tuesday with killing two University of Southern California graduate students from China during a bungled carjacking in April.

Javier Bolden and Bryan Barnes made a brief court appearance. They agreed to postpone their arraignment until June 25, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Investigators said Bolden and Barnes were linked by shell casings found at the scene to the killings of Ming Qu and Ying Wu, both 23 and both students in electrical engineering. The casings matched casings from parties in December and February where Bolden and Barnes allegedly fired weapons, the newspaper said.

"These were parties these guys frequented," Los Angeles Police Department Deputy Chief Pat Gannon said. "These guys were a couple of knuckleheads."

The victims were attacked as they talked in a BMW in a USC parking lot. Their parents have sued the school, charging officials falsely represented USC as safe, with 24-hour security.

Lashanna Green-Chaskley, Bolden's mother, called him a "good kid" who has been taking community college classes and working in a grocery store.

Police said Bolden and Barnes have juvenile records but not for serious crimes. While they used gang hand signals and described themselves as supporters of the Black P Stones on their Facebook pages, they are not believed to be committed gang members, the Times said.