1 Slain, 1 Wounded in Tense Home

An 84-year-old man who believed his daughter-in-law was disrespecting him shot and killed her early Tuesday, then tried to kill himself at their Costa Mesa home, police said.

It was the latest in a series of disputes between the man and the daughter-in-law, who refused his demands that she be subservient to him, investigators said.

Police said that after an argument about 8:30 a.m., Theodore Cheron fired several times at Lilia Cheron, 37, with a small-caliber handgun, striking her in the head, stomach and neck.

She called 911 and reported that she had been shot in the home she shared with her husband’s family, in the 2200 block of Jeanette Place, police said.

“My father-in-law has hurt me,” she told police. “I’m bleeding. I’ve been shot.”

When police arrived, they found her in an upstairs bedroom, hunched over a bed, police said. She was taken to Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach, where she was pronounced dead, said Costa Mesa Police Lt. Ron Smith.

Theodore Cheron was found in a downstairs room with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head and clutching the gun, Smith said. He was taken to Western Medical Center-Santa Ana, where he was listed in serious condition, officials said.

Police said the two argued often.

“Ted is old-school, and Lilia would stand up to him,” Smith said. “She wouldn’t assume a more traditional, subservient role, and he took umbrage to that.”

Police said they were called to the home last year to break up a dispute between the two.

“They’ve had some bad blood for some time,” Smith said.

Neighbors said the family kept to themselves and did not speak to others in the cul-de-sac. Theodore Cheron was an immigrant from Russia and bought the Costa Mesa home with his wife in 1951. Lilia Cheron, also Russian, came to the U.S. about eight years ago and moved in with her husband and his parents, police said.

Lilia Cheron’s husband was at work, and their 12-year-old daughter was at school, when the shooting occurred, police said.