A California fire captain has been accused of murdering his girlfriend and her child, allegedly to prevent their testimony about another crime.
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Capt. Darin McFarlin is facing two counts of first-degree murder in the slayings of 29-year-old Marissa Divodi-Lessa and her son, a second-grader named Josiah, the El Dorado Sheriff’s Department said in a press release. Both of their bodies were discovered on Aug. 21, while authorities responded to reports of a shooting at a home in Cameron Park, tucked in the Sierra Nevada foothills some 30 miles east of Sacramento.
When officers arrived at the residence around 9 p.m., Divodi-Lessa was already dead. Police said she suffered a fatal gunshot wound. Josiah, meanwhile “was provided immediate medical care and transported to a local area hospital where he was unfortunately pronounced deceased,” according to the press release. He too was fatally shot.
A second child was also found inside the home, who was not physically harmed.
Within hours of the deadly double shooting, authorities declared McFarlin a person of interest in the case, and he was taken into custody shortly after midnight on Aug. 21.
According to a criminal complaint obtained by the Mountain Democrat, the murders were “willful, deliberate and premeditated,” and noted McFarlin killed both victims to block them from testifying about another case, the specifics of which are unclear.
In addition to the pair of first-degree murder counts, McFarlin was also charged with the attempted murder of the second child found inside the home, as well as domestic violence and child abuse, the Los Angeles Times reported. He has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges against him.
