Mom and grandma killed at custody exchange of 7-year-old twins, California cops say
A mother and grandmother were killed during a custody exchange of 7-year-old twins, California authorities said.
The fatal shootings happened in Moreno Valley after Salvador Velasquez, 39, received the boys from their mother, Esmeralda Casillas, 36, on Friday, Nov. 18, according to a news release from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.
Velasquez and Casillas shared custody of the boys, with Velasquez caring for them on the weekends, Casillas’ nephew, Adrian Olascoaga, told The Press-Enterprise.
“We never thought she was in danger because we thought the kids were important to him,” Olascoaga told the newspaper. “She was a good mom. She was a business owner trying to do the best she could to provide for them.”
When deputies arrived, they found both Casillas and Ofelia Casillas, the children’s 68-year-old grandmother, in a car with gunshot wounds, the sheriff’s department said.
The pair was taken to a hospital, where they died from their injuries, according to the sheriff’s department.
The children were found safe while serving a search warrant at Velasquez’s home on Nov. 19, the sheriff’s department said.
Velasquez was arrested and booked into jail on “two counts of murder,” according to the sheriff’s department. He is being held without bail and is expected to appear in court on Nov. 23, according to online jail records.
Moreno Valley is about 60 miles east of Los Angeles.
This story was originally published November 22, 2022 at 3:28 PM with the headline "Mom and grandma killed at custody exchange of 7-year-old twins, California cops say."
