Court Order Proved to Be Flimsy Shield Against Murderous Bully

Life with Luis Guzman was becoming dangerous, and so nine days ago, Andrea Negrete took a step she hoped would save her life.

After her longtime boyfriend grabbed her by the neck and chased her with a crowbar, Negrete mustered her courage, went to court and obtained a restraining order, barring Guzman from the family’s apartment in northeast San Bernardino.

On Monday morning, the court order proved to be a flimsy shield. Guzman crept into the ground-floor apartment through a window and shot the couple’s two children dead. Pursuing Negrete outside, he then shot her twice while a witness watched her beg for mercy in a carport.

As frantic neighbors telephoned police, Guzman returned to the apartment with his .25-caliber handgun and killed himself with a final bullet to the head.

Negrete, 36, remained in critical condition at San Bernardino County Medical Center Tuesday, her relatives assembled anxiously nearby. She underwent surgery for bullet wounds to the head and abdomen, and a hospital spokeswoman said she is expected to pull through.

Her two children killed by bullets from their father’s gun were Christina, 13, and Luis Jr., 9. A third child of Negrete’s by a previous marriage, 17-year-old Tommy, managed to flee the apartment as Guzman invaded and was unharmed.

On Conejo Drive, in the low-income complex where the family occupied apartment No. 5, the talk on Tuesday was tinged with shock--but not surprise. Guzman, 34, was the local bully, neighbors declared, a man scrupulously avoided by tenants who said they feared his temper and unpredictable ways.

“He was very intimidating and people tried to avoid him,” said Barbara Abbate, a nurse who manages the 14-unit building.

Abbate said the couple had frequent noisy fights ever since they moved into the complex in February, 1989. Negrete frequently fled with the children to stay with relatives, but would always return, Abbate said.

Both adults, Abbate said, were unemployed. Negrete “had her hands full” caring for Christina, who suffered from cerebral palsy and was confined to a wheelchair until surgery recently enabled her to move with the help of a walker.

Several months ago, Abbate said, she attempted to evict the family because of ongoing conflicts, but a judge ruled in favor of the tenants. Tensions escalated after that, Abbate said, with Guzman striking her boyfriend on the head with a beer bottle last month.

On Sept. 15, police arrested and jailed Guzman after he assaulted Negrete and threatened to kill her and the children if she carried out plans to leave him for good. Negrete, however, chose not to press charges against him, according to Sherrie Guerrero, spokeswoman for the San Bernardino Police Department

Instead, she obtained the court order.