Man Arrested In Connection With LA Studio Fire That Killed 2

Damian Dovarganes / AP Photo – Top Notch Recordings Studio Fire

Los Angeles Police have arrested a 28-year-old man on suspicion of murder and arson in connection to a fire that spread through a recording studio and killed two people.

The Los Angeles Police Department announced that they arrested Efrem Demery after a fire ripped through Top Notch Recording studio in Universal City, Calif., on the morning of April 14, killing two and injuring two others. It is unclear if the victims were slain before or during the fire.

The single-story building, open 24/7, was leased by independent musicians and producers and housed a dozen studios, according to the Los Angeles Times. A few other musicians who were present at the studio during the fire safely escaped.

A musician who goes by the stage name L.A. Pryce told theTimes that he and a friend fell asleep in their studio early in the morning on the day of the fire. When they work up around 7 a.m., smoke filled their room and the soundproofed walls made it impossible to hear outside.

“I barely made out,” Pryce told the paper. “Every time I think of music, all I can picture is seeing these people burning.”

The LAPD has yet to release a motive or cause of the fire.