A man accused of fatally shooting his 4-year-old son and 11-year-old son and then turning the gun on himself in the Pico-Union area has been charged with murder.
Adolfo Gramajo, 35, was charged Wednesday with two counts of murder in connection with Sunday’s slayings of his sons, according to the complaint.
The murder charges include a special-circumstance allegation of multiple murders, along with allegations that he personally used and intentionally discharged a handgun.
He could face the death penalty or life in prison if convicted as charged, according to the complaint.
“We filed the case because we had enough evidence to prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt, and felt it was important to seek justice for the victims,” said Jonathan Hatami, assistant head deputy of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office’s Complex Child Abuse Section and Family Violence Division North County. “Because the defendant remains hospitalized, we filed the case for warrant.”
Gramajo is suspected of fatally shooting his two sons shortly before 1 p.m. Sunday in the area of Venice Boulevard and Catalina Street, Los Angeles Police Department officials said.
Police said the man turned the gun on himself after shooting the boys, but survived.
The two boys were pronounced dead at a hospital, according to police.
Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner records show that 4-year-old Jimmy Gramajo Bonilla died from a “close-range gunshot wound of the head” and that his 11-year-old brother, Osmani Gramajo Bonilla, died from a “gunshot wound of the head.”
It was unclear what prompted the shooting.
NBC4 reported that Adolfo Gramajo was on a custody visit with his children and shot them after taking them to McDonald’s restaurant.
Video from the scene showed community members and friends creating a makeshift altar at the site of the shooting, with candles, flowers and balloons laid down on a sidewalk next to the intersection.