Photo by MyNewsLA.com
A woman was facing possible murder and other criminal charges Friday in connection with an intentionally set fire at a converted garage in the Hyde Park area in which a 17-year-old boy died, authorities said.
Firefighters sent to the 4800 block of Crenshaw Boulevard shortly before 9 a.m. Tuesday extinguished the flames in about 15 minutes and discovered Elijah Robinson of Los Angeles dead. His 22-year-old brother was treated for smoke inhalation, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.
“Law enforcement officials declared the fire to be an intentional act, stating that an adult female suspect was in custody,” an LAFD statement said.
Keisha Lanora Tucker was arrested by detectives from the LAPD’s Robbery-Homicide Division. She was booked on suspicion of murder, assault with a deadly weapon other than a firearm resulting in great bodily injury, recklessly causing a fire in an inhabited dwelling and battery on a former spouse and was being held without bail at the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood, according to police and the Sheriff’s Inmate Information Center.
Tucker was due to appear in court in downtown Los Angeles on Monday, according to the sheriff’s department.
A man who said he lived in the converted garage with the brothers told reporters at the scene that the woman was one of their roommates and had been acting erratically.
“An evil person set fire to the house for no apparent reason,” Devin Simmons told ABC7.
Neighbors said the house adjacent to the detached garage, and possibly the garage itself, was being used as a sober-living home. They said the teen had just graduated from high school and was planning to attend Cal State Los Angeles.
–City News Service
>> Want to read more stories like this? Get our Free Daily Newsletters Here!