Calif. man charged with killing 4, burning house
The Associated PressAn 18-year-old man was charged Friday with murdering a woman and her three young daughters, then setting fire to their home, and authorities say they consider the man a "person of interest" in the death of a 90-year-old woman whose body was found in her burned home in May.
Corey Lynn King has been jailed since surrendering to authorities Wednesday, a day after firefighters found the bodies of the woman and her three daughters in their burning home in Lancaster, a city about 70 miles north of Los Angeles.
The prosecution's complaint identified the slain woman as Sonya Durfield Harris. The county coroner's office previously listed her as Sonya Durfield, 43. The discrepancy was not immediately explained. Her daughters were identified as Ebony Horton, 13; Melina Harris, 11; and Kayla Clark, 9.
The complaint charged King with four counts of murder with the special circumstances of multiple murders and torture of the woman and the 13-year-old, district attorney's spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said in a statement.
King, of nearby Altadena, was also charged with one count each of arson of an inhabited structure and grand theft auto.
He was scheduled to be arraigned later Friday, the Los Angeles County district attorney's office said.
Sheriff's officials have said King was a friend of the slain woman's 19-year-old son, who lives out of state. A family friend has said King was drinking at the home into the pre-dawn hours before the slayings.
Homicide investigators have said they believe King took the woman's car to a nearby Wal-Mart to shoplift clothing after the murders. After leaving the store, he couldn't get back into the car, so he allegedly smashed a window and fled on foot when he couldn't start the engine.
At the time of the killings, King was on parole after pleading guilty in August to misdemeanor petty theft for stealing from a convenience store. The Sheriff's Department said he was in a program that involved working at the Altadena sheriff's station during the day and going home at night.
On Friday, the Sheriff's Department named him as a "person of interest" in the May 8 death of 90-year-old Evelyn Mosley of Altadena.
Firefighters found Mosley's body in a pool of blood on the kitchen floor of the home she shared with her daughter and grandson. Investigators said the fire was deliberately set and that jewelry was missing.
King "was a friend of the family and he frequented the location," Deputy Derrick Thompson said.
Meanwhile, New Jersey authorities on Friday issued an arrest warrant for Rolando Terrell, 36, in connection with the slayings of four people in a home that was set on fire Monday in Irvington.
Police said Terrell has a double letter "i" tattoo on his neck and should be considered armed and dangerous.
Two of the victims, 13-year-old Latrisha Fields-Carruthers and 18-year-old Zakiyyah Jones, were shot to death. Authorities said the other two victims had been burned beyond recognition. They were identified Friday as Candes McLean, 40, and her 18-year-old daughter, Talia McLeanwere.