Photo: Efrem Zimbalist Demery
STUDIO CITY – A 2018 confrontation on April 13th between three men led to the death of two of the men and greatly harmed a teenaged girl. The purchase of a lighter and gasoline, bought at a gas station across the street from a recording studio, fueled the incendiary tragedy. Efrem Zimbalist Demery (31), of Los Angeles, used the items bought on the 3700 block of Caheunga Blvd. to set a structure fire on the morning of April 14th.
Two men sleeping in one of the rooms – Devaughn Carter (28), and Michael Pollard (30) – were engulfed in flames. As Carter and Pollard perished in the blaze, a 15-year-old anonymous teenage-girl was seriously injured.
Los Angeles Police Department Investigators immediately delved into years-long Case LA088204. Three years later, the deadly double-murder decision did not go unnoticed by the courts. Even though Demery pleaded “no contest” to two counts of murder and one count of arson of a structure, the murderer was handed a hefty state-prison sentence.
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced on July 28th that a man who set a fire that killed two people and severely injured a teenage girl was sentenced today to 50 years-to-life in state prison. “Although the life sentence in this case does not bring back the victims, it does hold the defendant accountable for his deadly actions,” District Attorney Gascón said. “My deepest sympathies go out to the families, whose lives were forever altered by this atrocious crime.”
