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Police: Calif. mom suspected in murder-suicide shot video of herself doing meth hours earlier
Police say 7-year-old is key murder-suicide witness
Aide Mendez
Aide Mendez
http://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...-2-children/2012/01/16/gIQA1tjM3P_story.html#FRESNO, Calif. — A woman who shot her two children, their father and a cousin in California’s Central Valley before committing suicide took video of herself on her iPad as she smoked methamphetamine prior to the killings, police said Monday.
The apparent murder-suicide by 23-year-old Aide Mendez began Sunday morning when she argued with the father of her two children, 33-year-old Eduardo Lopez.
Police arrived to find Lopez outside the Silver Lakes Apartment with knife and gunshot wounds, said Lt. Mark Salazar, homicide commander for the Fresno Police Department.
They heard a muffled shot from inside the first-floor apartment and discovered Mendez had killed herself, her boyfriend’s cousin, Paul Medina, 27, as well as her two children, 17-month-old Aliyah Echeverria and Isaiah Echeverria, 3.
The boy was found dead on the scene, Salazar said. Police tried to resuscitate the girl but she later died at the hospital.
“We do know that drugs played a key role, but we don’t know to what extent,†Salazar said. “She was seen prior to the shooting smoking methamphetamine. She recorded herself on an iPad showing her and Paul Medina smoking meth. We know the power of meth.â€
Salazar said the time stamp on the iPad video would have to be tested but preliminary information indicated it was recorded within a few hours of the murder.
“Her actions just seemed bizarre; her mannerism, the way she was moving her hands and her facial expressions,†Salazar said, noting other drugs may have been involved but that it would take weeks before the toxicology reports were complete.
Lopez remains in critical condition at Community Regional Medical Center with stab wounds and a gunshot wound to the neck, Salazar said.
A 7-year-old girl who was a family friend was staying overnight in the apartment, but escaped unharmed.
Authorities said Monday they had yet to piece together a motive, but said family members reported that Mendez had lost a baby several years ago, and was still grieving over the loss. Police recovered three firearms in the apartment; two of them used.
“There’s some things we just don’t know because most of the people in that house are dead and the one person who is alive can’t speak right now,†Salazar said.
Jesus Gonzalez told KFSN-TV, an ABC affiliate in Fresno, that shortly before 7 a.m. on Sunday he heard gunshots and then a pounding on his door. He opened the door to find Lopez bleeding profusely.
“I opened the door and he fell in front of me, and I take him and I pull him inside,†Gonzalez said. He said that before he could drag Lopez inside, Mendez tried to pull him back outside again.
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The family lived in the back of the gated apartment complex, which has neat lawns, trees and a children’s playground.
Neighbors said there was no indication of violence between the couple before Sunday’s shootings.
“They would come out with the baby carriage, and the man was taking care of his children,†neighbor Eric Gonzalez said.
Another neighbor said Monday residents were shaken by the shooting, and still struggling to comprehend what had happened.
“It just really gets you thinking about how a mother could just grab her kids and kill them,†Lizeth Gonzalez, a mother of three small children who lives in the complex. “I never thought it would happen here. Whatever she did, I hope God can somehow forgive her.â€
Police say 7-year-old is key murder-suicide witness
http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?section=news/local&id=8506673FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Fresno police have released new information about the murder-suicide that took the lives of two small children.
Detectives believe Aide Mendez, known by friends and family as Yvette, shot her children and her cousin before turning the gun on herself Sunday morning.
Monday afternoon, investigators said methamphetamine was found at the scene of the killing, and they say they discoverd a recording of Mendez smoking meth with one of the victims shortly before the violence began.
A single candle is sitting on the porch of the apartment where four lives were lost Sunday.
Shocked neighbors still can't imagine what was going on inside the mind of a mother they say was wonderful with her children.
The night before the shooting rampage one neighbor, spoke to the suspect. She didn't want to show her face on camera.
"Just that night she was upstairs, me and her were talking but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. I didn't think anything like this would happen. I didn't think she was capable of something like that, she was too nice," neighbor Sophia Fierro said.
What troubled Mendez is no mystery to those who talked to the mother of two often. They say Yvette never got over the loss of a daughter she had who passed away from a health condition a few years ago.
Mariah Gonzalez says she still spoke of the child in present tense and even continued to celebrate her birthdays, but she never thought her inner struggles would amount to such a severe outcome.
"The only thing I can say is maybe she was depressed and maybe alcohol was involved and you put two and two together and they're not a good combination," neighbor Gonzalez said.
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Some neighbors were aware the family had a gun in their home, and also a security camera on their porch to guard against unwanted intruders.
They never imagined the biggest threat was inside the home, and a mother who friends say made sure her kids were always happy and clean, and kept a spotless house.