Father in custody for allegedly killing his four children and their grandmother

Authorities in Los Angeles have arrested a 29-year-old father in connection with the killings of his four children as well as their grandmother at their Lancaster residence on Sunday night. Authorities told the Associated Press the bodies of the five victims were discovered by the infants’ mother after she arrived home. She subsequently called 911.

A neighbor also told the news outlet she saw a woman pacing around the front yard of the home and screaming, “My babies are gone! They’re all dead!” The suspect, identified as Germarcus David, turned himself in to authorities shortly after the children’s mother came home.

All five victims were shot in their upper bodies, and they were pronounced dead at the scene, the Los Angeles Times reported. The children were identified by prosecutors as 11-year-old Namyiah David; Germarcus David Jr., 7; Kayden David, 2, and 1-year-old Noah David, 1. Their grandmother was identified as 51-year-old Ericka England.

David was said to be a licensed security guard, and he had obtained three firearm permits between 2012 and August 2018, per the California Bureau of Security and Investigative Services. Officials, however, said his recent 2018 permit was listed as “canceled” following its expiration in August last year.

Waki Jones, a man who knew the family and frequently dropped the children at elementary school and daycare, said he got to know about the killings when he came to take them to school on Monday morning.

“Someone told me or I asked which house where the shooting was, and then I don’t remember anything after that,” Jones said. “They were just good kids.”

“To do this to the kids, it’s cowardly. It’s just unbelievable,” he added.

David is being held on $2 million bail. He has been charged with five counts of murder and three counts of assault on a child causing death.