Child Murder/Death Cases involving Father Custody, Visitation, or Child Support (California)

For a while, I was keeping a running national tally of killer dads who murdered their kids in situation involving child custody, visitation, or child support. After I got to 175 cases, it was clear that posting all these cases in one place was getting unwieldy, so I stopped. But recently a Dastardly reader contacted me about these sorts of crimes in just California. And I thought to myself that maybe a periodic summary by region or state is doable. So that's what we have here. The usual caveats apply. This is NOT necessarily comprehensive, as often the custodial context is not reported or is not reported clearly, etc., etc.

CALIFORNIA CHILD MURDER/DEATH CASES INVOLVING FATHER CUSTODY, VISITATION, OR CHILD SUPPORT

Contra Costa County

Father: ERHAN KAYIK
Victim(s): Volkan Kayik (16 years)
Date of Death: July 2007
Custodial father found guilty in 2009 of strangulation death of son.

El Dorado County

Father: DAVID ELIOTT
Victim(s): Chandler Nash-Eliott (11 years)
Date of Death: December 2009
Father not charged in the "suicide" of son. Father had physical custody, parents had shared legal custody. Father had extensive history with CPS regarding neglect, abuse, lack of supervision, etc.

Kern County

Father: EANON FANSCHIER
Victim(s): James Fanshier (3 years)
Date of Death: January 2011
Father with "sole custody" abandons son with ex-girlfriend. Girlfriend's new boyfriend charged with murder.

Los Angeles County

Father: DAVID HELMS
Victim(s): Lance Helms (2 1/2 years)
Date of Death: 1995
Custodial dad convicted in beating death of son. Father had obtained custody despite extensive history of violence, drug abuse.

Father: CAMERON BROWN
Victim(s): Lauren Sarene Key (4 years)
Date of Death: November 2000
Father scheduled to go to trial for 3rd time for death of daughter. Daughter was allegedly pushed off cliff during visitation in order to avoid child support.

Father: EDUARDO VILLAREAL
Victim(s): Trudy Bonilla (ex-girlfriend, mother of child), Naomi (ten days)
Date of Death: October 2010
Father in “custody dispute” with mother of newborn child rams his truck into bedroom where his ex, the baby are sleeping. Both are killed.

Orange County

Father: GIDEON WALTER OMONDI
Victim(s): Richie Omondi (4 years)
Date of Death: 2006
Father shared custody with the child's mother. Drowned son to avoid child support. Father convicted of 1st-degree murder in January 2010.

Father: UNNAMED FATHER
Victim(s): Soon to be ex-wife, daughter (8 years)
Date of Death: November 2010
Father in “custody dispute” shoots and kills ex-wife, daughter in murder-suicide.

Riverside County

Father: ALEXANDRO BAEZA
Victim(s): Isaac Gallegos (2 years)
Date of Death: April 2010
Father charged with murder in the death of son, who was killed during weekend visitation with the father. Parents had never been married and had been in a “custody dispute” for the past year. The “family” had a history with CPS. Father had shown zero interest in the baby for the first year. And yet the judge--in this case Judge John M. Pacheco--awarded the father twice-a-week visitation anyway. He then proceeded to ignore the mother's concerns regarding the child's injuries and signs of psychological trauma. In fact, he threatened to strip the mother of custody for bringing up her concerns. In December 2010, father ordered to trial, with trial beginning in August 2011.

Father: ANGEL GARCIA III
Victim(s): 5-year-old daughter
Date of Death: November 2010
Father, step arrested for murder, accessory to murder. Custodial status unclear.

Sacramento County

Father: ADRIAN RAMON MCGRATH
Victim(s): Jeremiah McGrath (3 years)
Date of Death: March 2010
Son beaten to death in home of father, stepmother

Father: MOURAD "MONI" SAMAAN
Victim(s) Madeline Layla Samaan-Fay (2 years)
Date of Death: August 2011
Father kills daughter in murder-suicide during court-ordered visitation. Though father was facing comtempt hearing for refusing to return the child to her mother on a previous occasion, he still retained his custodial rights.

San Bernadino County

Father: JESUS ROMAN FUENTES
Victim(s): Jesus Gabriel Fuentes (4 years)
Date of Death: February 2010
Father crashes car, shoots to death son during visitation. Parents divorced. Father in critical condition from self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Father: STEPHEN CHARLES GARCIA
Victim(s): Wyatt Garcia (9 months)
Date of Death: January 2010
Father kills son in murder-suicide during court-ordered visitation. Parents never married. Mother had pleaded with 3 judges regarding father's violence, threats.

San Diego County

Father: KEVIN COLLIER
Victim(s): Rhilee Collier (14 months), child's maternal grandmother, police officer also critically wounded
Date of Death: August 2011
Father shot and killed daughter, daughter's maternal grandmother after mother filed for divorce and requested sole custody. Father had history of restraining orders taken out by his own father, brother.

Father: THOMAS FUCHS
Victim(s): Sean Fuchs (15 years), Kyle Fuchs (13 years)
Date of Death: June 2011
Father with "full custody" kills son in murder-suicide. Media blames financial problems, upcoming "custody battle" with boys' mother.

Father: DENNIS POTTS
Victim(s): Tori Vienneau (22 years), Dean Springtube (10 months)
Date of Death: July 2006
Father is convicted September 2009 in the murders of his former girlfriend and son. Father didn't want to take paternity test, pay child support.

Father: JONAY SHACKNAI
Victim(s): Son Max Schacknai, Rebecca Zahau (father's girlfriend, not mother of child)
Date of Death: July 2011
Father has history of domestic violence allegations, but still has custody and/or visitation rights. Son found severely injured within father's home, later dies. Girlfriend found dead two days later, with her body hanging from a balcony.

Stanislaus County

Father: MARK EDWARD MESITI
Victim(s): Alycia Mesiti (14 years)
Date of Death: August 2006
Father obtained custody in 2005 despite extensive criminal history including domestic violence. Daughter reported a runaway in August 2006. In March 2009, girl's body found buried in father's former back yard. Father charged with murder and rape in June 2011.

Ventura County

Father: JAMES MULVANEY
Victim(s): Jason Mulvaney (12 years), Jennifer Mulvaney (7 years)
Date of Death: September 2009
Father stabs to death son and daughter in murder-suicide during overnight visitation. Parents had shared custody and were still involved in divorce, custody case.