4 Children Killed by Grill Fumes; 2 Hurt

Four children died of asphyxia and two siblings were critically injured after their father, apparently despondent over marital troubles, allegedly lighted a charcoal grill early Wednesday in the living room of the family’s Pico Rivera home, authorities said.

UCLA Medical Center officials said they are pessimistic about the chances of one of the children surviving.

Adair Garcia, 30, and Adriana Ibeth Arreola, the children’s mother, had been having marital problems, authorities said, declining to elaborate on what may have triggered the incident.

Adair Garcia was taken to Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital in Whittier, where he is in the critical care chamber, said Dr. Nadeem Chishti. Most likely, he will be transported to a county jail after being released. A sheriff’s deputy is outside his hospital room door.

“We are investigating this as a homicide,” said Lt. Don Bear of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s homicide bureau. “Logic tells us that [the father] is the only person who would have set the charcoal on fire.”

The children’s maternal grandmother found the bodies early Wednesday morning when she arrived to care for them, Bear said. She ran to the home of a neighbor, who called 911.

Firefighters went to the home in the 9600 block of Washington Boulevard at 6:30 a.m. to find Brenda Garcia, 10; Jonathan Garcia, 6; and Anthony Garcia, 2, dead in their pajamas in their bedroom, said Scott Carrier, a spokesman for the county coroner’s office. Cecilia Garcia, 4, died after being transported to Presbyterian hospital.

Emergency crews found the two-bedroom house filled with carbon monoxide and the barbecue grill, still smoldering, in the living room, said Edward Osorio, an inspector with the county Fire Department.

He said 25 parts per million of carbon monoxide is considered unsafe, and firefighters’ early tests at the house showed 214 parts per million. “With all that carbon monoxide, and nowhere to go, basically you have a gas chamber,” Osorio said.

Bear said investigators did not believe the barbecue was being used for heat. Sometime after the bodies were found, the children’s mother arrived at the house. Jennifer Moran, 32, a neighbor, said that when deputies refused to let Arreola into the house, she became belligerent and told deputies her husband was responsible. “Let me see my ... kids ... I know he did it ....They are just babies. They are are just babies,” Moran described Arreola as telling deputies.

The children’s mother was so distraught that she was unable to give investigators her consent to search the home, and detectives obtained a search warrant, said Deputy Rick Varela.

She is not considered a suspect in the case, said Deputy David Cervantes, a Sheriff’s Department spokesman.

At Presbyterian, Adair Garcia was placed in a hyperbaric chamber, where the carbon monoxide poison was flushed out with pure oxygen, said Chishti.

Investigators said it was not clear whether the fathewr--a splicing technician for SBC Pacific Bell’s Rosemead office--had intended to kill himself.

Neighbors Say Garcias Are a ‘Loving’ Family

Bear said that the Garcias had been having marital discord in the last week and that Arreola was not living at the house. Neighbors said the family appeared to be close-knit, and many described the couple and their children as loving.

“She had six kids and I had six kids, so we’d talk about how tough that was,” said neighbor Martha Serrato. “They looked like a loving family. I never thought anything was wrong.”

Jennifer Mauries, a fifth-grader who La Merced Intermediate School in Montebello with Brenda Garcia, described the girl as a loyal friend.

“No matter what, whenever you needed help, she was always with you,” Jennifer said.

In front of the campus Wednesday, children gathered and someone wrote: “It’s so sad,” next to a sad face, and added, “in memory of Brenda.”

Fernando Loya, the next-door neighbor who called authorities, said of the tragedy: “It was surprising to us.” He said the Garcias “kept to themselves.”

Neighbors said that Arreola was a homemaker and that her husband’s work truck was often in the driveway.

The family could be seen going on bike rides in the neighborhood and on trails along a nearby river.

Irma Azueto, one of the neighbors, recalled the family having a backyard barbecue about every other week. She did not think much of it when she smelled the odors of a lighted grill Tuesday night.

The Garcias’ frontyard was also frequently the scene of yard sales.

More than 100 people attended a makeshift vigil in front of the Garcia home about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. Some held candles as others placed flowers at the door. Some wept as others knelt and prayed. Many of them hugged one another. A cardboard sign placed at the scene read: “In loving memory of the Garcia family.”

Former Co-Workers Recall a Devoted Dad

Two SBC Pacific Bell employees said they recall when Garcia and Arreola worked together a few years ago at the company. He was a technician; she was a customer service representative. “They went to work together, took lunch together, took breaks together and went home together,” said a female colleague.

“He is an all-American dad. He worked hard for his kids,” another co-worker said. Garcia was decribed as a man who carried his children’s photos around with him.

“They had a Suburban. They used to joke they’d have kids until it was full,” the co-worker said.

Young classmates of the children attended the vigil.

One of the children, Shuichi Matsumoto, 11, asked, “Who’s still alive? ... Is Jonathan alive?”

Shuichi discovered that Brenda, a close friend from grade school, had died when counselors talked to students after cello practice.

“They told me Brenda had died, but I didn’t want to believe it,” he said. He said Brenda played the violin and dressed like the television character “Dark Angel” last Halloween. She would give him a bologna and cheese sandwich when he forgot to ask his mother for lunch money, Shuichi said.

The boy tried to console his 9-year-old brother, Shataro, who sobbed at the vigil. “Don’t cry, don’t cry,” Shuichi told his younger brother, holding his head.

Daniel Acevedo, 11, said, “I would give up half of my life to see Brenda alive.”

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Times staff writers Garrett Therolf , Manny Gamiz Jr. and Richard Winton contributed to this report.