A Lancaster man was found guilty on Tuesday of killing his four children and their grandmother in November 2021, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón’s office said.
According to a release from the DA’s office, Germarcus Lamar David, now 32, fatally shot the victims at their family home on the 6500 block of Garnet Lane in Lancaster on Nov. 28, 2021.
Of the five victims, four were his own children. They were identified as Namyiah David, 11; Germarcus David Jr., 7; Kaden David, 2; and Noah David, 1.
The fifth victim was the children’s grandmother, 51-year-old Ericka England, a state corrections officer who had worked at California State Prison, Los Angeles County in Lancaster since 1997.
Investigators said that England had been babysitting her grandkids at the home when they were all shot to death.
Family members told KTLA in the days after the shooting that the victims were found by the children’s mother, who was the daughter of Ericka England.
Germarcus David, formerly a licensed security guard, turned himself in to the Lancaster Sheriff’s Station shortly after the shooting; he was detained, questioned and arrested, authorities said.
He did have a permit to carry a gun, authorities said, however it had expired the previous August and was listed as canceled.
There were no restraining orders against David, nor did there appear to be any previous reports of domestic violence at the family’s home, a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Lieutenant told KTLA at the time.
What appeared to be his Facebook page included a photo of a crucifix and posts from weeks before the murder offering “spiritual and moral views,” the Associated Press reported.
District Attorney Gascón commended both trial lawyers and jurors for their resilience throughout an emotionally charged case.
“I am deeply thankful to the dedicated jury and skilled trial lawyers who tirelessly sought justice in the Germarcus David case…The emotional challenge of presenting evidence of such senseless loss is immense,” Gascón said. “Their courage in pursuing accountability and closure for the victims is truly commendable. Our hearts go out to the mother of the children, who has suffered the unimaginable loss of all her children and her own mother in this tragic ordeal.”
David was found guilty of five counts of first-degree murder and three counts of assault on a child causing death. Multiple special circumstance allegations were also found true, the DA’s office said, including the allegation of multiple murders, personal use of a firearm and several other circumstances.
He is expected to be sentenced on April 24 at the Antelope Valley Courthouse.
