By Mary O’KEEFE
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s detectives are asking for the public’s help with any information concerning the murders of two teenagers in their home in Arcadia.
“We are trying to nail down a window [of time] where the murders were committed,” said Lt. Hernandez, LASD Homicide Unit.
On Friday Arcadia police responded to a 9-1-1 call from a home in the 400 block of Fairview Avenue at 12:39 p.m. The call came from the mother of the two male victims, 15 and 16 years old, who discovered her sons suffering from blunt force trauma. The victims were pronounced dead at the scene.
Detectives discovered the suspect, the boys’ uncle Deyun Shi, 44, of La Cañada, had boarded a plane to Beijing, China. The suspect’s plane arrived at the Hong Kong airport where he was taken into custody. Shi is also wanted in connection to a spousal assault incident that occurred on Thursday.
The suspect had a temporary restraining order placed on him by his wife and was not living in their La Cañada home. Shi recently found out his wife was planning on divorcing him. On Thursday night Shi allegedly broke into his wife’s home in La Cañada and assaulted her.
Hernandez said with the domestic violence the LASD deputies would have arrested Shi and charged him with attempted murder toward his wife. The deputies would have done this due to the intent to do harm, that the suspect forced entry into the home and the injuries to his wife were serious.
Detectives are asking for anyone who may have seen the suspect or his vehicle in the area of the 400 block of Fairview Avenue specifically sometime between late Thursday night to early Friday morning, midnight to 5 a.m. Shi’s vehicle is described as a 2015 dark gray, four-door GMC Yukon.
LASD will work with the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office, the U.S. Dept. Of Justice and the FBI along with law enforcement authorities in Hong Kong to initiate the extradition of the suspect.
The two victims attended Arcadia High School. The school held a candlelight vigil earlier this week.
Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500. Those who prefer to provide information anonymously may call “Crime Stoppers” by dialing (800) 222-TIPS (8477), or texting the letters TIPLA plus the tip to CRIMES (274637), or by using the website.