Car Slams Into House, Kills 4-Year-Old

A 4-year-old girl was killed when a car driven by an apparently drunk driver rammed into a Studio City home where the child was sleeping on a couch, police said today.

The driver, James Masoner, 46, was arrested and booked for murder after his friends told investigating officers that they had tried to stop him from driving because he had had too much to drink.

Police said the crash occurred about 9:30 Wednesday night when the car slammed through a fence and three walls of the house on Broadlawn Drive, killing the girl and pushing her brother’s crib against a wall. That child was also injured and was taken to St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, where he was treated and released.

The driver’s friends told police they were talking to Masoner in front of his home when he slid behind the steering wheel and drove off.

As the car sped off, Masoner apparently lost control at a curve about a block away and crashed into the front room, killing the sleeping child, police said.

The names of the residents of the house were not immediately released.