Arcadia High School students and staff mourned the deaths of two teenage brothers who were beaten to death, allegedly by their own uncle, and a candlelight vigil in their honor was planned for Monday.
The two brothers, 15 and 16, were found by their parents about 12:40 p.m. Friday at their home in the 400 block of Fairview Avenue. They appeared to have suffered blunt force trauma and were pronounced dead at he scene, Sheriff’s Homicide Lt. Eddie Hernandez said.
They were identified as Arcadia High School students William and Anthony Lin, according to a statement from the Arcadia Unified School District.
Their 44-year-old uncle, identified as Deyun Shi, who is suspected of killing the boys after becoming enraged that his wife had obtained a restraining order against him and begun divorce proceedings, fled on a plane to China, but was taken into custody by Hong Kong authorities Saturday as his plane arrived at Hong Kong International Airport, officials said.
Authorities are working to have him returned to California.
“Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department will work with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, the United States Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, along with law enforcement authorities in Hong Kong to initiate the extradition of Deyun Shi,’ according to a sheriff’s department news statement.
Shi was already being sought for an alleged assault with a hatchet on his wife Thursday night in La Canada Flintridge, according to Hernandez.
On Friday, Arcadia police responded to a 911 call from a woman at the home who was the mother of the two teens. She discovered the bodies, according to sheriff’s Deputy Lisa Jansen.
Once it was learned that Shi boarded a flight to China, the FBI began assisting in attempts to apprehend him, a bureau spokeswoman said.
His vehicle was recovered by the sheriff’s department.
The boys’ parents left their apartment to visit Shi’s wife in a hospital Thursday night and didn’t find their sons’ bodies until Friday, according to the sheriff’s department.
A candlelight vigil for the boys sponsored by the Arcadia High School Parent Teacher Student Association was scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday at the school.
The school district said in a statement it will “provide additional counselors and support services this week when students return to school, and for as long as they are needed.
“We are beyond saddened to learn of the death of the Lin brothers, William and Anthony, who attended Arcadia High School,” the statement said. “The loss of William and Anthony will be felt by the thousands of students, staff, friend and family that loved and knew them well in our tight-knit community.
“We know our community will stand united as we go through this unthinkable tragedy together,” it said “We ask everyone to please respect he Lin family’s privacy during this extremely difficult time.”
–City News Service