June 05--Investigators on Thursday were searching for a man suspected of killing his 25-year-old wife and their 2-month-old son.
Algernon Rieux, 26, fled from the South Los Angeles apartment he shared with his wife, Jacqueline Montoya, after his mother arrived at the apartment shortly after 8 a.m. and found their baby's dead body, said county sheriff's Lt. David Coleman.
Rieux had a scheduled court appearance which prompted his mother to make an unscheduled visit to the apartment located in the 11100 block of South Normandie Avenue in Westmont.
A neighbor, Kayla Foxworth, witnessed Rieux's mother discover the dead body of her grandson, Joshua, who lacked a pulse and was drenched in water.
After dialing 911, a dispatcher told Foxworth to check on the baby's mother. Foxworth felt no pulse on Montoya -- only the coldness of her body, which lay in bed with blankets pulled up to her knees.
Rieux's mother carried her grandson's body outside and tried to resuscitate him.
Latice Monks, 31, came out of her apartment and saw the grandmother hovering over Joshua's dead body.
"I've never seen a lifeless child like that," Monks said.
Rieux is believed to be dangerous, possibly suicidal and under the influence of methamphetamine, according to the sheriff's department. Investigators say he has been tied to domestic violence allegations in the past.
As investigators collected evidence behind stretches of yellow police tape, neighbors exchanged words of grief and shock, tinged with regret.
"I used to hear [Montoya] say, 'Please stop! Help! Don't do this to me,'" said Clevette Foxworth, a former neighbor and sister of Keyla Foxworth. "I would tell her, 'Jackie, you need to leave him.'"
Another neighbor recalled a night four months ago when a pregnant Montoya was walking outside at 3 a.m., her eyes swollen from crying. Rieux had kicked her out of the house, said the neighbor, who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation.
Keyla Foxworth, surveying the horror that unfolded just feet from her home, grieved most of all for young Joshua.
"That baby was gorgeous," she said. "He belonged on the Gerber box."
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UPDATE
5:09 p.m.: This story was updated throughout with new details.
This story was originally published at 2:48 p.m.
