Authorities say an 82-year-old man with COVID-19 was beaten to death by another man also being treated for the coronavirus at Antelope Valley Hospital in Lancaster, California.

The Los Angeles Times reported the unidentified victim, a Catholic, was praying.

According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the other man in the two-person room, suspect Jesse Martinez, became angry. Just before 10 a.m. Dec. 17, he used an oxygen tank to strike the victim.

Police said the men did not know each other.

The victim died of his injuries the next morning.

Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris said in a statement to the L.A. Times he was “shocked and saddened” by the incident.

“These families were already experiencing a hardship and now this — it’s senseless,” he said.

Sheriff’s Department spokesman Lt. Brandon Dean told the L.A. Times that Martinez, 37, was detained by hospital staff before being arrested.

BuzzFeed News reported Martinez was removed from the hospital after the attack. He has been charged with murder and has a sentencing enhancement for elder abuse and religion-motivated hate crime, the L.A. Times reported.

According to records, BuzzFeed News reported, Martinez was booked into the county jail, where he is being held in lieu of $1 million bail. He is due to appear in court Monday.

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8/26/17 - Atlanta, GA - Georgia leaders, including Gov. Nathan Deal, Sandra Deal, members of the King family, and Rep. Calvin Smyre,  were on hand for unveiling of the first statue of Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday at the statehouse grounds, more than three years after Gov. Nathan Deal first announced the project.  During the hour-long ceremony leading to the unveiling of the statue of Martin Luther King Jr. at the state Capitol on Monday, many speakers, including Gov. Nathan Deal, spoke of King's biography. The statue was unveiled on the anniversary of King's famed "I Have Dream" speech. BOB ANDRES  /BANDRES@AJC.COM

Credit: Bob Andres