City of Riverside renames street to honor slain Winek family

Riverside city officials on Thursday renamed a street to honor three members of the Winek family who lived on the street and were murdered there last year.

Price Court, a cul-de-sac in the La Sierra South area, has been ceremoniously renamed Winek Court to honor the memory of Mark, Sharie and Brooke Winek, who died Nov. 25 in a homicide that received national attention. A sign was placed in the cul-de-sac noting the ceremonial name change.

“The Wineks were the neighbors everyone would love to have,” City Councilman Jim Perry, who represents the area and organized the renaming effort, said in a statement. “Everyone in the cul-de-sac loved them and were thrilled at the idea of remembering them forever through this effort.”

Mark Winek was an respected baseball and softball coach for nearly a decade at Arlington High School after working at La Sierra High School. 

Sharie Winek and their daughter Brooke “were active participants in their community and served on parent-teacher organizations,” Riverside spokesman Phil Pitchford said in a statement. “The family were loved on their quiet cul-de-sac and admired for their service to their neighborhood and to Riverside.”

Mark and Sharie were the original owners of their home at 11261 Price Court and were the first family to move into a house on the cul-de-sac. 

“They were so excited to live there, they sometimes camped outside the construction site in their recreational vehicle to watch the building progress,” Pitchford said.

“They knew a home on a cul-de-sac would be the perfect place for my sister and I to play with the other neighborhood children and create a close-knit camaraderie between our neighbors — neighbors that became like family,” said Mychelle Blandin, who spoke at the renaming ceremony. “To say that my parents were the ‘pioneers of Price Court’ is an understatement. We watched our home being built from the ground up, and it would be the home that held us together for 36 memorable years.”

Mark Winek, 69, Sharie Winek, 65, and her sister, 38-year-old Brooke Winek, were murdered last November in their residence.

The killings stemmed from an “inappropriate romance between a predator and child” — Brooke Winek’s 15-year-old daughter and a law enforcement officer from Virginia — that spun out of control without any warning signs of an imminent threat, a family member of the victims said.

“Nobody could imagine this crime happening to our family, especially one day after Thanksgiving,” Blandin told reporters while reading a statement at the Riverside Police Department’s Magnolia Station shortly after the murders. “We had all just celebrated the Thanksgiving blessing. We recounted many blessings. Little did I know it would be the last time my husband and I would see my sister and parents alive.”

The man believed to be responsible — 28-year-old Austin Lee Edwards, a sheriff’s deputy in Washington County and former Virginia state trooper — killed himself during a gunfight with San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies as he fled toward the California state line, west of Needles.

Following the shocking killings last year, Arlington High School honored the Wineks by placing a commemorative plaque behind home plate of the baseball diamond, where Mark Winek coached so many young people. The school also dedicated the 2023 baseball season in his honor.

“Closer to home, Perry worked with the 17 homeowners on Price Court to ensure that residents were comfortable with the proposed renaming,” Pitchford said. “There was overwhelming support. The sign cost $117 and was funded with money in the existing city budget.”

The City Council approved the Winek Court name change on Sept. 12, and officials unveiled the ceremonial plaque Oct. 5. Footage of the Winek Court plaque unveiling and press conference is available on the city’s Facebook account.

The street dedication is ceremonial and does not require residents of the street to change their mailing addresses or any legal documents, Pitchford said.

City News Service contributed to this report.