By Lookout Staff

July 24, 2012 -- A suspect was charged Monday with three counts of attempted murder in the stabbings of three homeless individuals in Santa Monica and Los Angeles.

Courtney Anthony Robinson was taken into custody Friday night and questioned as a "person of  interest" in the stabbings before being arrested.

"Death warrants" were left next to the homeless victims, all of whom were stabbed in the back with large knives while sleeping on bus benches.

The three victims -- two men and a woman in their 50s -- survived.

Robinson turned out to David Ben Keyes, the name signed on the death warrants by the homeless man from the Santa Barbara area police had been searching for as a person of interest.

Robinson was charged Monday with three counts of attempted murder with personal use of a knife and great bodily injury, Los Angeles Police said.

He is being held on $500,000 bail, although prosecutors said they will ask that it be raised to $3 million.

The first victim, a 56-year-old man, was found on July 3 with a large knife in his back in Downtown Los Angeles near 3rd and Main streets. The man crawled 100 yards looking for help, according to one media report.

Last Tuesday, a second homeless man was stabbed as he slept on a bus bench near the Promenade in Downtown Santa Monica.

On Thursday, a 54-year-old woman was stabbed as she slept near Hollywood High School, authorities said.