Custody Fight Blamed as Woman Kills Daughter, 3, Then Herself

A woman who feared that her estranged husband would gain custody of their 3-year-old daughter shot and killed the girl and then herself Wednesday as they rode in a friend’s camper in Panorama City, Los Angeles police said.

Josephina Rios, 29, died about 10:15 p.m., four hours after she fired a single round into the head of her daughter, Samantha, and then shot herself in the head, Sgt. Joe Braza said.

Investigators found a one-page note apparently written by Rios saying that she was despondent over the prospect of her husband gaining custody of their daughter.

Detective Mike Houchen said Rios feared that her husband, Antonio Rios, would disappear with the child. The couple, who lived in Anaheim, had been separated for about a year and were going through a divorce. “The mother left a suicide note indicating this was best for the child and herself,” he said.

Lt. Richard Iddings said the handwritten note also asked for forgiveness from God and her family.

At the time of the shooting, Rios and her daughter were riding in the back of a camper driven by Pasquale Buzzelli. Buzzelli told police that he was driving the two to his Panorama City house from East Los Angeles, where Rios was staying with members of her family.

Rios and her daughter chose to ride in the back of the camper so they could sleep before a Halloween party at a local park, Lt. Richard Iddings said.

As he passed Branford Park, Buzzelli said, he heard two sharp reports, seconds apart. He continued driving the few miles to his residence, however, because he thought the noises were backfires or Halloween revelers.

But when he arrived home, Buzzelli found Rios and her daughter wounded. Rios apparently used a handgun that was kept in one of the camper’s cabinets. Buzzelli had shown her how to use the gun the week before, Iddings said.

Buzzelli shut the door and drove to Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program in Panorama City. Samantha was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. Her mother died about four hours later.