Man held in double stabbing
Girlfriend is wounded and her daughter, 2, is killed. Suspect’s father alerted police after learning of the attack.
A man was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of fatally stabbing a 2- year- old girl and critically injuring his pregnant girlfriend in their South Los Angeles residence, according to police.
Lataz Gray, 22, was re- ceiving medical treatment at a hospital for a cut on his hand Tuesday morning when he contacted his father and told him about the stabbing, said Det. David Garrido of the Los Angeles Police Department’s 77th Street Station.
The father persuaded his son to surrender to police, then notified investigators about his son.
“We really do appreciate a father’s ability to recognize his duty in this case,” Capt. Peter Whittingham said at a news conference.
After Gray is medically cleared, he will be jailed on suspicion of murder, police said.
Police said the stabbing occurred shortly before 10 p. m. Monday at the couple’s home in the 3500 block of Arlington Avenue.
Gray and his girlfriend, Ebony Epps, 22, had been dating for about six months and moved into the home about a month ago, police said. Gray is not the girl’s father, police said.
Officers responded to a report of a battery that required an ambulance at the home.
They found Epps and the toddler inside with multiple stab wounds.
Both were taken to the hospital, where the girl was pronounced dead, police said. Epps, who is f ive months pregnant, remained in critical condition Tuesday, Whittingham said.
Her unborn child is expected to survive and was not injured in the attack, he said.
Police said Epps was heavily sedated, so they could not interview her to find out what had happened before the stabbing.