glenda

Homemaker
Shot: March 30 1998
Huntington Park California
glenda

If I ever left him he would kill our daughter

Glenda: "My husband and I had been married four years and we had a one-year-old daughter. I had recently filed for divorce so we were separated. He had constantly threatened me that if I ever left him he would kill our daughter. One time he went to the closet and took out the gun and he held it to the baby's head. He said, 'Just go because I'm going to kill her, tell her good night.' I was on my knees begging him to kill me instead. I reported it to the police. He said there were no bullets in the chamber. His attorney, his counselor knew. My attorney said, 'Judges love to hear from fathers who want to be part of their children's lives. The only thing you can do to prevent your husband's visitation is to flee with your daughter, but then you'd be wanted for kidnapping.' The visitation was arranged through the attorneys. He had her Mondays and Sundays for six hours. He had no history of violence, drug or alcohol abuse. On Monday, February 2nd, 1998, he took her to the Angeles National Forest and put a shot gun to the side of her head and shot her and then turned the gun on himself.

This brother said it wasn't fair that I was still alive

"He had called this one brother and told him that he could pick them up. This brother was having a hard time. Three weeks after my daughter's services I returned to work. I received a phone call. This brother said it wasn't fair that I was still alive and that he just couldn't go on. He said, 'It just has to be an eye for an eye.' Immediately I called 911. A week later he was arrested. He was in jail three to four days. The judge told him, 'Who do you think you are telling her you're going to kill her? I'll see you two weeks from now in Superior Court.' That same day as we were exiting the courthouse, waiting for the traffic light to change, he was already in his vehicle. He saw us crossing the street. He started to go against traffic, to get as close to us as possible. He stopped the car, got out, popped the trunk, took out a black holster holding a 9mm handgun. My girlfriend was yelling, 'Glenda, run!' As I was running I thought, now who's going to decorate my daughter's grave? Then I thought, I don't want to live, this is good, let me turn around, let him shoot me, then I'll get to die and he'll take the blame. I turned around and faced him. I looked down and I could see the red laser light from the gun all over my body. He fired the weapon. After the fifth shot, my body collapsed. I turned over to look, he put the gun inside his mouth and pulled the trigger. He fell on his back and immediately a huge puddle of blood formed around his head.

He killed an innocent bystander who was watching T.V.

"Before the ambulance came I had an out of body experience. I saw a wooden door. I heard a tap, and my heart melted, because my daughter always did that when we were at home. I knew it was her. Then I reached over to the door knob trying to pull the door open, and I couldn't, and then I heard a softly low voice that said, `Ma?' Loud sirens followed immediately and I knew I hadn't died. I was very disappointed. He killed himself thinking he killed me, he didn't kill me, but he killed an innocent bystander who was watching T.V. inside the house where we were standing. My right lung was punctured and collapsed. I had two wounds in my neck. I have asthma from the lung injury, I suffer from chronic pain in my right arm from a destroyed ulna. I've had many surgeries. When the doctors see me they always tell me how lucky I am to be alive."