DOWNEY, Calif.—Authorities Dec. 22 identified a 12-year-old girl who was killed, along with her mother, in a Downey apartment fire, and investigators continued their efforts to determine the cause of the blaze that left a woman believed to be the girl’s grandmother hospitalized.
On Thursday, the coroner’s office identified the girl as Kayla Kaimimoku-Diaz of Downey. Authorities withheld the name of the fatally injured woman, pending notification of her next of kin.
The fire was reported at 10:47 p.m. Tuesday in an apartment at 9943 Tweedy Lane, near Florence Avenue and Paramount Boulevard, according to the Downey Fire Department. “Arriving units reported heavy smoke and fire from a garage” the fire department reported. “Crews were notified of the possibility of three trapped occupants. Once on scene crews found one patient in front of the building suffering from significant burn injuries. That patient was treated and transported to a local trauma hospital.”…