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A four-year old girl in Tulare found the dead bodies of her mother and father early Sunday morning, according to the Tulare Police Department. Investigators said the killing was the result of a murder-suicide.
Police said 44-year old Gerardo Tovar shot and killed his common law wife 41-year old Georgina Rojas-Medina, and then turned the handgun on himself. The shooting happened just after midnight early Sunday morning in the couple’s home on the 1600 block of Capistrano Street in Tulare.
Investigators said the couple had a four, ten, and twelve year old, but only the four-year old girl was home at the time of the shooting. Sergeant Andy Garcia said the little girl told a neighbor that her parents had been shot, and the neighbor called 911.
Richard Campos is another neighbor who has lived next to the family since September 2012. He said he was shocked when he found out the killing had been a murder-suicide. He commented, "They (the family) have a trampoline in their backyard, and we’d always see them there with their friends. Normal kids, happy kids."
But on Sunday, hours after the killings, the home was left with remnants of a brutal crime scene, with bloody footprints near the front door and yellow crime scene tape left blowing on a car in the driveway.
"At first, we thought someone had come in and done it. But, as it turns out, one killed the other, and then he killed himself," said Campos.
Campos said he was home late Saturday night into Sunday morning. He said he heard the cries from the little girl, but did not hear the gunshots.
He said, "I heard a little girl cry, but I couldn’t tell if it was from anyone here, or from the other side of the park."
Garcia said when officers arrived to the house, "They noticed the front door of the residence was partially opened. When they entered, they discovered a female with visible head trauma and a male subject with visible head trauma near the front door."
Garcia said it’s unknown if the couple had a history of domestic violence, and noted there were no signs of a struggle before the shooting. Investigators said Rojas-Medina and Tovar had been together for about 13 years as common law husband and wife, raising a family together.
Another neighbor, who wanted to stay anonymous said, "It makes me feel sad, because now (the children) they’re alone. They have older siblings, but still, they don’t have their parents with them. It’s gonna be hard for them."
Campos recalled the family had a car wash business and a small catering business, specializing in grilled chicken. He said his thoughts are with the young children who are now left without parents.
Police said the children are now in the custody of Child Welfare Services.
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