Murder-Suicide Of Father, Twin Boys Among String Of Deadly Domestic Violence Cases In CA

CANOGA PARK, CA — A Canoga Park neighborhood is on edge after a father killed his twin sons before reportedly turning the gun on himself Sunday — the latest deadly shooting in a string of suspected murder-suicides that have rocked California in recent weeks, leaving multiple children dead.

The investigation into the double-murder suicide that claimed the lives of two 10-year-old boys happened during a family party around 7:18 p.m. at an apartment at 8016 Owensmouth Ave., at Strathern Street in Canoga Park, according to Los Angeles Police Department.

The mother of the two boys told police she heard two pops and went to a bedroom to investigate, police said. The boys' father closed the door, produced a handgun and fired at her, but missed. The man then shot himself in the head, police said.

The man and his two sons were pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

The motive for the shooting remains under investigation.

CA Children Caught In The Crosshairs

Sunday's deadly shooting in Canoga Park follows recent murder-suicides deemed domestic violence.

On May 30, a newborn baby was delivered at a San Diego hospital after her pregnant 17-year-old mother was fatally shot, police said.

The infant died Sunday at Rady Children's Hospital after suffering a severe hypoxic brain injury, according to the San Diego Police Department.

The baby girl was born after doctors performed an emergency cesarean section on an Arizona teen who had been critically wounded in a San Diego shooting. Officers responded around 1:10 a.m. to the 4900 block of Gardena Avenue, where they found the teen, who was about 32 weeks pregnant. She was unresponsive and suffering from a gunshot wound to her head, police said.

Officers began lifesaving measures before paramedics transported her to a hospital, where doctors performed an emergency c-section. The mother died at the hospital, and the baby remained in critical condition until her death.

Homicide investigators said the victim and several family members were staying at a short-term vacation rental while visiting San Diego from Arizona. Detectives determined the teen's 19-year-old boyfriend, Trevon Williams of Arizona, had traveled to San Diego separately and met her outside the rental, where he shot her before fleeing on foot into a nearby canyon.

Williams was found and arrested around 3 a.m. near 4900 September Street and booked into San Diego County Jail on suspicion of murder. A semiautomatic handgun was recovered when he was taken into custody.

Just two days prior to the fatal shooting in San Diego, investigators say a mother shot and killed her husband, toddler, 6-day-old baby and herself inside their San Fernando Valley home Wednesday night, according to reports.

Officers responded at around 7:50 p.m. Wednesday to the 16200 block of Londelius Street, near the intersection of Parthenia Street and Woodley Avenue in North Hills, to reports of shots fired, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

Four people were found dead with gunshot wounds inside the home. The medical examiner's office identified tree of the deceased as 31-year-old Khajag Basmajian; 2-year-old Alec Basmajian; and Ella Basmajian, whose age was listed as 6 days, NBC Los Angeles reported.

California's Rate Of Severe Domestic Violence Is Soaring

Domestic violence rates in California have falled over the last two decades, but they have increased in urban communities, and they have grown more severe, according to the California Public Policy Institute. Marginalized groups have a much higher rate of violence against women, according to a recent study.

"In 2023, the most recent year of data, California law enforcement agencies fielded more than 160,000 calls related to domestic violence, or 18 calls per hour," the California Public Policy Institute found. "While the statewide number of reported domestic violence incidents has trended downward, they are now more likely to involve weapons, which can include physical objects like knives and firearms as well as assailants’ fists or other body parts....In 2023, more than half of domestic violence incidents involved aggravated domestic assaults, compared to 35% in 2019."

Public health researchers at University of California, Berkeley found Black women accounted for 22 percent of domestic violence injuries in California, the highest rate among all groups though they only comprise about 6.5 percent of the state's female population. Native American and multiracial women had the second and third highest domestic violence rates, respectively.

Researchers also found Black women under age 65 were also at the highest risk of violence. Additionally, Black women across all age groups had assault injury rates nearly four times higher than white women.

Black women between 20 to 24 years old had the highest assault injury rate among all groups studied.

"We have these persistent racial disparities that just haven’t changed over time," said Emily Liu, a PhD candidate and lead author of the study told UC Berkeley News.

"And in general among women, violence has stayed pretty stable across time, which says that we’re not paying enough attention to systemic issues driving these trends."

The study was published on the American Journal of Preventive Medicine website and will be printed this summer.

Researchers analyzed statewide inpatient and emergency department hospital discharge data and death records from 2005 to 2022, which included about 763,000 assault injuries.

The researchers said police-reported data that includes race and ethnicity is often left for the officer to interpret. The new study analyzed hospital and mortality data in California, which is more accurate.

Indigenous women and multiracial women are often excluded from those reports or are identified as "other," researchers said.

Researchers also found multiracial women were more likely to experience domestic violence among all racial groups over the age of 65.

"Community violence is a product of structural racism," said Emily Liu, a PhD candidate and lead author of the study.

"Structural racism is part of both our history and our present, and we see that in this study," she added.

It occurs when cultural and institutional dynamics chronically disadvantage people of color.

The researchers said the data suggests inconsistency in addressing violence obscures the ability to reduce violence on larger scale, and it should not be interpreted as evidence that intervention programs aren't effective.

If you or someone you know is the victim of domestic violence, help and resources can be found at the National Domestic Violence hotline at 1-800-799-7233.

Patch Local Editors Kristina Houck and Chris Lindahl contributed to this report.