A community in the Athens neighborhood of South Los Angeles held a candlelight vigil Friday night for a mother and her 3-year-old daughter killed in car fire.
The woman, who was not identified, killed herself and the toddler in an SUV fire, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
The incident occurred Thursday around 9:45 p.m. in the 300 block of W. 124th Street near Athens Park, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
The initial reports came in as a car fire at Athens Park, with Los Angeles County firefighters dousing the blaze and discovering the two victims, according to the LASD.
Witnesses said the woman was standing near the SUV as it burned, and the woman kept getting in and out of the flaming vehicle.
The woman then placed the child into the SUV and got in herself, ignoring the pleas of bystanders aghast at the unfolding situation. Both were
overcome by the flames and pronounced dead at the scene, according to the LASD.
Homicide detectives and arson investigators are probing why the woman
killed herself and the child, and how the fire to the SUV began, according to
the LASD.
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City News Service contributed to this report.
