A man who set a fire that killed two people and severely injured two others inside a Studio City recording studio was sentenced Wednesday to 50 years to life in state prison, officials announced.
Efrem Zimbalist Demery, 31, of Los Angeles, pleaded no contest Wednesday to two counts of murder and one count of arson of a structure, according to a news release from the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
On the morning of April 14, 2018, Demery used gasoline and a lighter he bought from a gas station across from Top Notch Recordings, located in the 3700 block of Cahuenga Boulevard, to set fire to the recording studio where two people were asleep. Devaughn Carter, 28, and Michael Pollard, 30, were burned alive and two others, including a 15-year-old girl and a man in his 20s, were critically injured, officials said.