2 Found Shot to Death

The bodies of a 15-year-old girl and a family friend in his 40s, apparently victims of a murder-suicide, were discovered Wednesday by the girl’s mother when she arrived home from work, La Habra police said.

“He apparently had developed a romantic interest in the 15-year-old, which she did not welcome,” Police Capt. John Rees said. “However, it was not perceived to be a threatening situation.

“The daughter had told the mother, and they confronted him about it” sometime recently, Rees said. “He admitted it was wrong and agreed to discontinue it.”

Leah Roman arrived at the home in the 1000 block of Derry Street about 4:50 p.m. with her two younger sons and found the bodies in a front bedroom, Rees said.

Her daughter had been shot several times in the torso, and the friend had been shot once in the head, Rees said. A handgun was nearby, he said.

Police did not release the names of the girl or the man Wednesday night.

Neighbors had reported hearing a disturbance and possibly gunshots between 1 and 2 p.m., he said.

One neighbor, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he heard “a lot of shouting, a lot of mayhem. Then, all of a sudden, it was like a calm.” He said he didn’t hear shots.

The dead man’s car, registered to an address in Moreno Valley, remained parked in front of the yellow and white home Wednesday night.

Residents said the family had lived in the home about a year, and next-door neighbor Athena Turrey, 42, said she had talked to the girl over the fence a few times in that span.

“She was just a really nice, quiet girl,” Turrey said of the girl, who she said was home-schooled. “She was not a troublemaker.”

Turrey said her sons heard the gunshots, but thought it was someone shooting into the air, she said.

Roman is a reserve security guard at Fullerton College, according to co-worker Jim McKami.

“She was very proud of her family,” he said. “A lot of us are in shock right now. We’re here to help.”

Steve Carney can be reached at (714) 966-7890. His e-mail address: steve.carney@latimes.com