Teen Kills Stepfather After Mother’s Suicide, Police Say : Oxnard: The former high school football running back is arrested after firing several bullets into the man, authorities said. The estranged couple were in the process of divorcing.

An Oxnard teen-ager who had just learned of the apparent suicide of his mother picked up a large-caliber handgun Monday and pumped several bullets into his stepfather, killing the man he held responsible for her death, officials said.

The 17-year-old former Oxnard High School football running back was arrested Monday afternoon on suspicion of murdering Walter Bell, 43, said David Keith, a spokesman for the Oxnard Police Department.

The shooting occurred less than two hours after the boy’s mother, Regina Lewis, was found dead of a single gunshot wound.

The boy, whose identity was withheld because of his age, was booked into Juvenile Hall late Monday afternoon, where he awaits formal charges in the incident, Keith said.

Deputy Coroner Jim Wingate said the youth apparently blamed Bell, a Ventura County corrections officer, for causing his mother’s suicide and “decided to take care of the stepfather.” Bell and his estranged wife had had a stormy relationship for three years and were in the process of divorcing, Wingate said.

Lewis, 42, had been despondent over the impending divorce, Wingate said. Her body was found slumped over the steering wheel of a car parked in the Oxnard Shores area about 11:15 a.m. Monday, Wingate said. She died from a single gunshot wound to her upper chest, Keith said.

A weapon was recovered from the locked vehicle, but officials would not say whether a suicide note had been found. “I can’t say anything, because it’s part of the homicide investigation,” Wingate said.

According to investigators, Lewis called Bell, who lived apart from her and her son, early Monday morning and seemed depressed. Bell then went to her residence in the 1200 block of Miramar Walk to try to find her, Wingate said.

He was there when Lewis’ teen-age son arrived at the condominium about 1 p.m. and learned of his mother’s death, Wingate said. “That’s when the shooting occurred,” he said.

Bell died from multiple gunshot wounds to his head and back, Wingate said.

Keith said he did not know whether the minor turned himself in or was apprehended by police after the shooting.

Neighbors in the Villas, the tidy, middle-class condominium complex where Lewis lived, gathered Monday afternoon to gawk as police investigated the scene. Bell’s body could be seen covered on a concrete walkway just outside the home.

A woman who lives next door to Lewis said she heard about four or five gunshots at 1:07 p.m. and saw Bell lying on the ground when she looked out the window. She did not hear an argument or observe anything out of the ordinary before the shooting, said the woman, who asked not to be identified.

Lewis was a pleasant woman who always said hello and did not appear to be troubled, said the woman. Her son, who lived with his mother, was a nice boy who often played video games with her children, the woman said.

“I’m shocked. It just appeared nothing was wrong,” she said.

The teen-ager is well-known at Oxnard High School, where he was starting running back for the Yellowjackets last year, said Jack Davis, a football coach at the school. He described the youth, who graduated in June, as quiet and well-mannered.

“He was never in any trouble at school to my knowledge,” Davis said.

Bell--whom Davis described as “a very nice person”--and Lewis were active in the school’s booster club and often attended football games. Lewis worked at Armstead & Associates, a Port Hueneme firm that deals in government contracts, Wingate said.

Davis said he was not aware that the couple had separated and were having problems until he read a published notice about their impending divorce in a newspaper Monday morning.