Wilson man suspected of killing wife, father had previous arrests

Officers with the Los Angeles Police Department arrested 38-year-old Michael Allen Joyner around 11 p.m. at a home in San Pedro, almost 24 hours after his family members were found dead at his Wilson home.

The Wilson County Sheriff's Office charged Joyner with two counts of murder in the death of his wife and father, whose bodies were found around 7:30 p.m. Friday.

Court documents show Joyner has been arrested several times for non-violent offenses. One of the latest involved stealing cash and checks from his father in 2015. He was still on probation for that crime when the murders occurred.

Joyce and Don Edmundson live nearby. They said they did not know their neighbors well, but that Dennis Joyner would leave the house like clockwork, at the same time every day to head to job at Vidant Medical Center.

"I would be on the porch and I would say, 'Well, he's going to work,'" Don Edmundson said.

Officials responding to a welfare check call said Michelle Joyner, 36, and Dennis Ray Joyner, 63, were inside the home. Joyner's child, a toddler, who was also inside the home when deputies arrived, was unhurt. Officials said the toddler was locked inside one of the home's bedrooms.

"That's when your heart goes out to that child who no longer has a mother or a father," Joyce Edmundson said.

Michael Allen Joyner is currently being detained at the Los Angeles County Jail.