A firefighting captain in California is charged with allegedly killing his girlfriend and her son, according to authorities.
On Aug. 21 around 9 p.m., deputies with the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of a shooting in Cameron Park, a suburban community about 30 miles east of Sacramento in the Sierra Nevada foothills, according to a department news release.
Deputies arrived and found a woman and child with gunshot wounds. The woman was pronounced dead at the scene and the child was given immediate medical care and taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. A second child in the home was found safe.
Soon after, authorities named California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Capt. Darin McFarlin, 47, a person of interest in the case, according to the release. McFarlin was found just after midnight on Aug. 22 and was detained in Mono County. The next day, he was booked into the El Dorado County Jail for two counts of homicide and is being held on no bail.
McFarlin pleaded not guilty to two felony counts of first-degree murder with special allegations that a firearm was used, attempted murder of a second child inside the home, as well as domestic violence and child abuse, according to court records.
The victims are identified as McFarlin’s 29-year-old girlfriend Marissa Divodi-Lessa and her son Josiah, who was in second grade.
According to the Mountain Democrat, which cited the criminal complaint filed by the El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office, McFarlin attacked his girlfriend as she was leaving their bedroom, then got a gun and shot her.
McFarlin then allegedly shot and killed his girlfriend’s son to stop him from being a witness to the crime, according to the publication. He also allegedly tried to kill the other child in the home.
If found guilty of the murder charges, McFarlin could face the death penalty or life in state prison without the possibility of parole.
