Husband Held in Shooting of Wife, Stepdaughter, 16

A Palmdale man was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after he allegedly shot his wife and 16-year-old stepdaughter, then turned the gun on himself, reportedly distraught over a possible divorce, said a Los Angeles County sheriff’s detective.

The girl, the most seriously injured, was put on life support Thursday morning at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills, investigators said.

All three family members were shot in the head, authorities said.

Family and friends told sheriff’s investigators that 39-year-old Louis Hunter Jr. feared that his 34-year-old wife, Dotty, might file for divorce. The couple married two years ago and the prospect of divorce may have been too much for Hunter to take, Det. Brian Dunn said.

“There is no reasoning for someone to take themselves out and their daughter,” Dunn said. “He must have some serious problems.”

The three wounded people were discovered by a passerby early Wednesday inside a tractor-trailer that had crashed into a tree.

Investigators said Hunter fired the shots as the vehicle was traveling north on 90th Street East in Palmdale. Hunter apparently intended to kill his wife and stepdaughter and commit suicide, police said.

The person who discovered the victims thought they had been involved in a traffic accident, but upon investigation found the scene far more grisly. Each had been shot in the head.

When paramedics arrived, Hunter, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, was alert and conscious, Dunn said. His wife, who was in the driver’s seat, was conscious as well and screaming for help.

There may have been a struggle for the gun, according to authorities. The teenage girl had a defensive wound to her hand, indicating she may have tried to deflect the gunshot, Dunn said.

Dotty Hunter was taken to Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena, where authorities said she is listed in serious condition.

Hunter was taken to UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. It appears that he was grazed by the bullet and the wound did not appear to be life-threatening, authorities said.