Two Arcadia teen brothers murdered

Update 3:50 p.m. Jan. 23: Two brothers who were students at Arcadia High School, William and Anthony Lin, were murdered at their home near Holly Avenue in the 400 block of Fairview Friday afternoon. Police believe they were murdered by their uncle, who quickly flew to Hong Kong later that day, where he was taken into custody by Hong Kong authorities.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide Detectives responded Friday afternoon to assist Arcadia Police Department personnel investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of two male juveniles. Detectives learned that Arcadia Police Department personnel responded to a “911’” call at 12:39 p.m. from a woman at the residence. The woman discovered her two sons, 15 and 16 year-old juveniles, suffering from blunt force trauma. The victims were pronounced dead at the scene. The suspect is the victims’ uncle, 44 year-old, Deyun Shi, a citizen of China who is 5 foot 6 inches tall, and weighs 155 pounds.

Facebook conversations say the victims were formerly students at Camino Grove Elementary School and Dana Middle School. The Arcadia Unified School District released a statement offering “our deepest condolences to the Lin family, their friends and loved ones.” The district has scheduled a candlelight vigil for 6 p.m. Monday.

The Arcadia Police Department is not making comments on the case, deferring all calls to the Sheriff’s Department.

On Friday, the Sheriff’s Department Detectives quickly recovered the suspect vehicle and learned that the suspect had boarded a plane to Beijing. He was considered armed and dangerous and is also wanted in connection to a spousal assault incident that occurred Thursday, January 21, 2016, in the La Cañada area. That’s was after the suspect apparently learned that his wife had filed for divorce. It’s not clear why that may have sparked him to murder his nephews in Arcadia but the victims’ mother and her husband had apparently gone to the hospital to see her sister who had been beaten by the suspect. That is when the suspect is believed to have gone to the home of his nephews. It’s not clear what time they were killed but some have reported that the children may have already been beaten and lying in their rooms when their parents came home and went to bed. They were found the next day beaten to death in different rooms and on different floors of the tri-level apartment unit, according to Sheriff Department detectives.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department will work with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, The United States Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation along with law enforcement authorities in Hong Kong to initiate the extradition of Deyun Shi.

Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500. If you prefer to provide information anonymously, you may call “Crime Stoppers” by dialing (800) 222-TIPS (8477), or texting the letters TIPLA plus your tip to CRIMES (274637), or by using the website http://lacrimestoppers.org.

— By Scott Hettrick