Despondent Mother Kills Her 3 Children and Herself : Tragedy: Neighbors say the woman had separated from her husband and was facing financial difficulty.

A single mother, apparently despondent over the breakup of her marriage and her struggle to provide for her three children, shot them as they slept in the family’s Reseda home, and then killed herself, police said Wednesday.

The bodies of the woman and her children, along with the slain family dog, were found Wednesday afternoon by friends of the eldest daughter who broke into the house because they had not heard from the girl and feared something was wrong.

Brandy Fernandez, 16, and Leticia Fernandez, 13, were found shot to death in their bedrooms. The body of Roxanne Jones, 32, was discovered lying near that of her youngest child, Jeremiah Jones, 7, in the master bedroom.

A small-caliber rifle was found in the master bedroom, detectives said, along with a lengthy suicide note written by Jones.

“She wrote a several-page suicide note asking for her loved ones to forgive her,” Los Angeles Police Lt. William Gaida said. “The note basically had stuff like ‘God forgive me’ and things of that nature.”

Police declined to elaborate on the contents of the handwritten note, but neighbors said Jones had separated from her husband four months ago and was facing financial difficulties.

“They were having a lot of problems,” Detective Rick Swanston said.

Apparently unable to find steady work, Jones had been baby-sitting and picking up odd jobs for extra money. One such job was distributing advertising flyers for a pizzeria where her daughter Brandy had worked until recently, friends said.

Brandy contributed her pay from the Two for One Pizza Co. to the household kitty, said her boyfriend, Derek Shelton, 18. She was laid off last week because “business was a little slow,” said store manager Darren Amerson.

The discovery of the four bodies in the modest house on Tampa Avenue touched off scenes of grief in the working-class neighborhood, where crowds thronged the sidewalk and gawking drivers caused a rush-hour traffic jam.

The fathers of the children arrived and were escorted away by police. Distraught relatives, friends and neighbors wept openly and called out the bad news to others as they arrived.

“My nieces are in there!” yelled Stella Chavez, sister of the dead woman’s first husband, jumping a yellow police barrier and running toward the house. She was gently restrained by police officers and taken back to her car.

“I hope that little boy is all right. I just love that little boy,” said an elderly neighbor, holding her hands to her face.

The family was described by friends as close and happy until four months ago when Jones--described by some friends as deeply religious--separated from her husband and the father of her son, Jeff Jones, a house painter who moved to Canoga Park. They had moved into the rented house at the corner of Tampa and Arminta avenues after arriving from Oregon about four years ago, neighbors said.

Jones’ first husband was Joaquin Fernandez of San Fernando, father of Leticia and Brandy, relatives said.

Since the recent separation, the mother had faced a financial hardship in caring for the children, neighbors said. She had previously worked as a bookkeeper for her husband, but recently had asked neighbors for small amounts of money.

“Everything just wasn’t going well for her,” said Lance Johnson, a neighbor and friend.

Madeleine Bellomo, Jeremiah’s first-grade teacher at Blythe Street Elementary School in Reseda, said that two weeks ago the boy told her that his family was going to “the House of David,” a religious retreat which he described as a “good place where God is and there are no worries and everything would be all right.”

Detectives said religious sayings had been written in black ink on walls throughout the house.

One neighbor said Jeremiah would roam the neighborhood, taking broken and discarded toys home to try to repair and use himself.

Despite the family’s financial problems, Shelton said, “everything seemed OK. They would have arguments, but it would never go beyond the verbal level.”

Shelton said he and Brandy went bowling with friends Monday night, returning at 3 a.m. Tuesday. When he tried to call her later that day and Wednesday, there was no answer.

Police said they could not estimate when the killings took place, but no one in the family was seen after Brandy’s return. Sid Slackman, a neighbor two doors away on Tampa, said he heard what he thought were four or five gunshots about 1 a.m. Wednesday. “Then silence,” he said.

Neighbors said the small rented house was kept tidy by Jones and that photographs of the children hung on walls in every room of the home.

Jones was seen a week ago clearing tall weeds in her back yard. Don Simpson, a city employee who was trimming trees on Arminta Avenue, had helped her. “She was an easy, free-going person,” Simpson said.

Lonny Gordon, a family friend, was stunned. “They were a happy family,” he said. “I used to come by here to visit because there was happiness there.”

Staff writers Steve Padilla, Gabe Fuentes, Amy Louise Kazmin, Jack Cheevers and Gary Libman contributed to this story.