Local News in Brief : No Motive Established in Death of 9-Year-Old Boy in Sylmar

Police have not established a motive for the suspected slaying by a father of his 9-year-old son in Sylmar, Los Angeles police said Tuesday.

The body of Christopher Rennie and his comatose father, Ronald Rennie, 38, were found in the upstairs bedroom of Rennie’s townhouse in the 12600 block of Ralston Avenue about 11 a.m. Monday, said Lt. Steve Day of the Los Angeles Police Department’s child abuse unit.

An autopsy performed Tuesday on Christopher’s body failed to determine the exact cause of death or how long the boy had been dead, said Tony Hernandez, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County coroner’s office. Tests will try to determine how the boy died.

Day said that the boy had not suffered gunshot or stab wounds, and that there were no signs a struggle had taken place in the townhouse.

Ronald Rennie was in stable condition in the jail ward of County-USC Medical Center, where he was booked on suspicion of murder, Day said. Police say the elder Rennie may have taken an overdose of drugs.

“He is stable and able to answer questions,” Day said.

An attorney had called police early Monday after he received a letter from Rennie, who was his client, Day said. The letter said that by the time the attorney read it, both Rennie and his son would be dead.

Police have interviewed the boy’s mother, Punnie Rennie of Los Angeles. Day said that the couple have been divorced about three years and that the boy had been on an agreed-upon visit at the time of the homicide.