Sheriff’s homicide detectives were trying to determine the motive behind a murder-suicide that took the life of an off-duty Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department deputy shot and killed in her La Cañada Flintridge home by her husband, an off-duty Los Angeles County firefighter, who later shot himself to death in Pacoima.
The slain deputy was identified by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department as 32-year-old Cecilia Hoschet, a two-year department veteran who worked at the Inmate Reception Center in downtown Los Angeles.
The dead man was identified as firefighter/paramedic James M. Taylor, Capt. Keith Mora of the Los Angeles County Fire Department said.
Taylor killed his wife, then drove to a county fire facility in Pacoima, where he shot himself to death in a government vehicle, officials said.
Before he took his own life, Taylor left their six-year-old son at the home of a relative, according to the sheriff’s department.
“We lost a wonderful deputy last night,” Sheriff Jim McDonnell said.
Hoschet “impressed everyone she met” at the department, McDonnell said in praising the deputy’s “positive and helpful approach to her work.”
The discovery of the Hoschet’s body was reported at 9:50 p.m. Sunday in the 5000 block of Crown Avenue, said Deputy Mike Barraza of the Sheriff’s Information Bureau.
“Deputies responded to a ‘woman screaming’ call. Deputies made entry into the residence and found a 32-year-old female victim of a gunshot wound,” Barraza said.
The door was open when the deputies arrived, officials said.
Hoschet was pronounced dead at the scene.
The six-year-old boy was believed to have been home at the time of the shooting, sheriff’s Lt. Dave Coleman said.
Sheriff’s homicide detectives were called to the Pacoima facility by Los Angeles police, who had responded to reports of a dead body at the location, he said.
A weapon was recovered at the scene in Pacoima, Barraza said.
“Today is a sad day for all public safety personnel in Los Angeles County. On behalf of the entire fire department, we extend our deepest condolences to the family and friends facing the pain of loss,” LACFD Chief Daryl L. Osby said.
