Man Shoots Mother of His 2 Kids

A man entered an apartment here Monday night and shot the mother of his two children in the head, then fired a bullet into his own head, authorities said, in what witnesses described as a jealous rage following a six-year relationship.

Both were listed in critical condition at UCI Medical Center in Orange. A friend of the man and sister of the woman identified them as Tiffany Deaton, 22, of Stanton and Brent Irwin, 26, also of Stanton.

The shootings occurred about 6:30 p.m. in a two-bedroom apartment behind the offices of a public-storage franchise, which Deaton’s mother manages, on Beach Boulevard north of Katella Avenue.

Authorities were interviewing family members and witnesses Monday night and declined to discuss the shooting in detail.

“Apparently, there has been an ongoing dispute between this couple for some time,” said Lt. Hector Rivera of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. He said the weapon used was a revolver.

Deaton’s two children, ages 2 and 5, were in the apartment at the time, said her sister, Crystal Deaton, 17. She and her own infant also were there, she said. Irwin was the father of Tiffany Deaton’s children, she said.

Crystal Deaton said she heard gunshots from a bedroom and ran to find her sobbing mother cradling her critically wounded sister, who had been shot in the right temple. Irwin lay on the floor nearby.

Moments before, Deaton said, Irwin had been yelling.

“He had been saying he was going to kill her,” she said.

Mark Johanson, 38, a friend of Irwin who had been working on a truck in a nearby parking lot, also saw the bloody scene.

“Brent wasn’t moving,” Johanson said. “He was just there, making weird sounds.”

According to the witnesses, the couple had broken up about three weeks ago, and Tiffany Deaton recently had visited Las Vegas with another man.

Also contributing to this report was Times staff writer Nick Anderson.