Woman and Infant Son Killed in Blaze : Arson: Former boyfriend is sought for questioning in apartment fire that left five other people injured, one critically.

A 24-year-old Paramount mother and her infant son were killed and five other people were injured early Wednesday in an apartment fire started by an arsonist using gasoline, Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies said.

Deputies were seeking a former boyfriend of the dead woman for questioning. The man, whom authorities did not identify, was not considered a suspect, Deputy Robert Stoneman said.

However, the woman and the former boyfriend, identified as Melvin Elias Alfaro by a resident of the apartment, had fought on numerous occasions, and she had ordered him to leave about two weeks ago, according to neighbors.

Alva Lagos, 32, one of eight people who lived in the two-bedroom apartment, identified the dead as Martha Chavez and her 6-month-old son, Enrique Luis Chavez.

A three-gallon plastic container with gasoline in it was found in a hallway outside the bedroom where the victims died, Stoneman said.

Stoneman said firefighters arriving to battle the flames reported a strong gasoline odor in the apartment, a ground-floor unit in a complex located in the 7300 block of Petrol Street.

Alfaro reportedly threatened to kill the woman, her son and himself when she told him to leave, according to a survivor of the fire.

Angel Hernandez, 23, was in critical condition with burns over 75% of his body at Charter Suburban Hospital in Paramount. He was flown by helicopter from Charter to Valley Hospital in Fresno.

Carlos Lopez, 23, was in serious condition at Charter and Martha Lara, 30, was in serious and guarded condition at Doctors Hospital in Lakewood.

Lagos and her son, Antonio, 12, were in a separate bedroom from the other victims when the 2:48 a.m. blaze broke out. Speaking through an interpreter, Lagos said in Spanish that she was awakened by noise and screams.

When she tried to enter the bedroom to help the others, she said, she was driven back by smoke and flames. She and her son were treated for smoke inhalation at the scene.

Chavez had reportedly told other residents that Alfaro had said he could not live without her.