( CNN ) -- An Iraq war veteran accused of fatally stabbing four homeless men in Southern California is dead , authorities said Friday . Itzcoatl Ocampo , 24 , was pronounced dead the previous afternoon at Western Medical Center in Santa Ana , according to the Orange County Sheriff 's Department . He had been sent there Wednesday from Orange County Jail , where he had fallen ill while awaiting trial . Deputies noticed Ocampo `` shaking and vomiting '' in his solitary cell `` and immediately summoned medical attention , '' the department said . Ocampo was charged in January 2012 with four counts of first-degree murder . The first homeless man , killed a month earlier , was stabbed more than 40 times with a 7-inch , heavy-gauge Ka-Bar Bull Dozier knife , Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas said . `` In each of these cases , the violence , the number of stabbing wounds of each victim , increased , '' the prosecutor added . The next month , Ocampo was arraigned on new charges that he killed the mother and brother of an old friend . Authorities say 53-year-old Raquel Estrada was stabbed more than 30 times and her 34-year-old son Juan Herrera more than 60 times on October 25 , 2011 , their bodies left in pools of blood inside their Yorba Linda home . The accused killer was being held without bail , with his next court appearance scheduled for January 17 , 2014 . His death is under investigation `` as is protocol for all Orange County Jail in-custody deaths , '' the sheriff 's department said . An autopsy is tentatively set for early next week , with toxicology tests possibly coming back in several weeks . Ocampo served in the Marines from July 2006 until July 2010 , including a six-month stint in Iraq in 2008 , according to military service records . He completed his service , with the rank of corporal , with the 1st Marine Logistics Group at Camp Pendleton , which is about 80 miles south of Los Angeles and 50 miles north of San Diego . Friend : Ocampo 'down ' after return from Iraq .
Sheriff : Itzcoatl Ocampo dies after falling ill at the Orange County Jail . - May 1, 2014 – The Los Angeles City Council votes to approve a $4.5 billion bond package for public safety and other city services in response to the unrest that followed the acquittal of police officer Authorities accused Ocampo of stabbing 4 homeless men to death . He was also charged in the deaths of his old friend 's mother , brother .