Santa Ana Police Probe Shooting Deaths of 2 Men

A Santa Ana woman returning home late Saturday found the bodies of her son and another man shot to death in a bedroom, police said.

Michael Peckham, 20, and Francisco Anguiano, 24, were shot in the torso, according to the Orange County coroner’s office.

Santa Ana police said Peckham and Anguiano were friends. Additional details, including a possible motive, were sketchy Sunday as detectives continued investigating the apparent double homicide.

Residents of the large, gated Adagio at South Coast apartment complex in the 3100 block of South Main Street said they were shocked and puzzled by the violent crime.

“Nobody heard anything,” said Silvia Sherod, 47, who lives across from the unit shared by Peckham and his mother, Cherie LaPointe, 39. “I’ve never been so close to anything like this.”

Santa Ana Police Sgt. Raul Luna said LaPointe found the bodies shortly before midnight and called 911.

“What we have is two dead kids with no apparent motive,” Luna said. “The apartment was very neat and well-kept, and the family was very religious. There is no evidence that this could be gang-related.”

Luna declined to give additional details, citing the continuing investigation.

There were no obvious signs of robbery, but no possible motive had been ruled out, he said.

Sherod said she last saw Peckham about 6:30 p.m. Saturday. He was alone smoking a cigarette in the walkway to his unit as he listened to alternative rock music through an open window. She described Peckham as friendly and quiet.

“He’d say, ‘What up?’ and I’d say, ‘What up?’ and we’d chat,” a visibly disturbed Sherod said Sunday morning as she prepared to drive through the complex’s security gate. “He was a very nice kid.”

Sherod’s daughter, Desiree, 25, who was visiting her mother Sunday, said she’d occasionally see Peckham sitting on the steps of his apartment smoking.

“Sometimes, I didn’t even notice him sitting there,” she said. “But he’d always say hi.

“It takes so much internal strength to deal with something like this. Our best wishes go out to his family.”

LaPointe could not be reached for comment, as authorities sealed her unit for further investigation.

Residents of the sprawling brown stucco complex near Columbine Avenue said they were surprised when police knocked on their doors early Sunday.

“I didn’t hear anything,” said Victoria Biderman, 27, who lives one building away from LaPointe. “All of a sudden there were a lot of police.”

Anyone with information about the killings is urged to call Santa Ana Police homicide detectives at (714) 245-8390.