Burned body found in Inglewood home may be of family's shooter

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (KABC) -- Inglewood police say they are all but certain that the remains found in a burned out house are those of a man suspected of shooting five members of a family after setting the house ablaze.

The body was found beyond recognition in the rubble of the burned home in the 4900 block of West 99th Street. Investigators said the body had a bullet-resistant vest on. The person was holding a .38-caliber revolver and carrying ammunition in the pockets. The body also had a gunshot wound in the head.

Desmond John Moses is suspected of going on a shooting rampage before dawn Saturday, killing 33-year-old Filimon Lamas and his 4-year-old son. The father was shielding two of his children when he was shot, Inglewood Police Chief Mark Fronterotta said. Lamas' 28-year-old wife was shot in both legs but managed to carry the wounded 4-year-old out of the house. Paramedics found her collapsed on the street. The child, who suffered a bullet wound to the head, died at a hospital.

In addition to the deaths of the father and child and injury to the mother, a 7-year-old girl was struck in the chest and a 6-year-old boy was shot in the pelvis. An 8-year-old boy escaped injury. The mother and daughter were at the hospital in stable condition, while the 6-year-old boy was treated and released. Ten shots were fired at the family.

According to investigators, Moses set fire to a back house in which he lived for 17 years before entering the family's home in the front of the same property around 4 a.m. wearing a dark cap and a white painter's mask.

There was debris stacked all the way to the ceiling in this place," Fronterotta said. "It's incredible how much stuff was in there. We had to bring in a backhoe to clean it up."

Police said the gun found with the body was registered to Moses. An autopsy will determine whether the body is Moses.

Friends say Lamas was a hardworking father. He was the co-owner of Chips, a café in Hawthorne.

"I'm still kind of shocked. I think the whole block is shocked, because this thing never happens," said neighbor Valeria Gonzalez.

The Los Angeles Urban Police Roundtable said they have provided financial assistance to the family.

Anyone with information was asked to call Inglewood police at (310) 412-5210.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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shooting, standoff, fire, los angeles news, melissa macbride

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