COVINA : Reservist Held in Deaths of Ex-Wife, In-Laws

An Army Reserve staff sergeant was charged with murder Wednesday in the shooting deaths of his ex-wife and her parents in their Covina home.

Richard Dana Fontes, 26, will be arraigned next week on three counts, which include the special circumstance allegation of multiple murder. The divorced father of two, who is being held without bail, appeared in Citrus Municipal Court in West Covina but did not enter a plea. Fontes was arrested shortly after the shootings on Monday night outside the Pomona recruiting station where he worked.

Authorities say he phoned Pomona police just after 3 p.m. Monday and told them he had fired shots at another recruiting station and at a home, both in Covina. Killed at the home in the 400 block of Adams Park Drive were Fontes’ ex-wife, Suzanne, 28, her father, Charles Kelly, and his wife, Rachel Kelly, 63. Charles Kelly, 66, was a retired El Monte police officer.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Ross Alari said Fontes and his former wife were involved in a heated dispute over custody of their 9-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter.