Two men suspected of fatally shooting two Chinese students during a botched robbery were charged Tuesday with capital murder and other counts, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office announced. Both may face death penalty.

Bryan Barnes, 20, and Javier Bolden, 19, were arrested last Friday and are being held without bail.

Deputy District Attorney Deborah Brazil with the Major Crimes Division is prosecuting the case, a statement from the Attorney's office said.

Barnes and Bolden, both of Los Angeles, are charged with the April 11 special circumstance murder of Qu Ming and Wu Ying, both 23 and second-year graduate students studying in the University of Southern California (USC).

The two electrical engineering students were gunned down in the 2700 block of Raymond Avenue near the USC campus, where the female victim once lived, during a suspected robbery at around 1 a.m. local time (0800 GMT) on April 11.

Wu was found shot in the front passenger seat of the car. Qu tried to run and call for help, but he collapsed and was found on a nearby porch, police said.

The special circumstance of multiple murders and murder during commission of a robbery makes the two defendants eligible for the death penalty. Prosecutors will decide later whether to seek the death penalty against the two men, said the statement.

The suspects also are charged with the one count each of attempted murder for allegedly shooting a 20-year-old man during a December 3, 2011 party in South Los Angeles. The complaint alleges both defendants used a handgun and caused great bodily injury.

Barnes is also charged with an additional count of attempted murder and assault with a semiautomatic firearm during another South Los Angeles party on February 12, when he allegedly fired numerous rounds, striking and severely injuring a male and also injuring a female. Both victims are in their 20s.

Los Angles police, who investigated the case, said shell casings tied the suspects to both the USC fatal shootings and the earlier attempted murders.

Earlier last week, the parents of the two Chinese students filed a wrongful-death lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court against the USC. Alan Burton Newman, attorney for the plaintiffs, confirmed Thursday to Xinhua via telephone that the court accepted the lawsuit.

The USC website states the university is ranked among the " safest of U.S. universities and colleges, with one of the most comprehensive, proactive campus and community safety programs in the nation." But the parents accuse the USC of not providing patrols in the area where the students were killed and the campus is in a high-crime area.

In a statement issued last Thursday in response to the suit, USC attorney Debra Wong Yang called the shooting a tragedy, but said there were no grounds for the lawsuit.

Two days after the USC killings, the university announced a $125, 000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspects. Days later, the city of Los Angeles also offered $75,000 in reward for information over the killing.

More and more Chinese students are coming to the United States for study. Nearly 160,000 Chinese students were studying in U.S. colleges in the 2010/11 school year, up 23 percent from the previous year, according to statistics provided by the Council of Graduate Schools. In USC alone, there are 2,513 Chinese students, accounting for 34.8 percent of international students and representing the single largest group in the school's international scene.

(Xinhua News Agency May 23, 2012)