Domestic Violence: Tragedies in the North Valley

Atwater, CA (KFSN) -- North valley authorities are investigating three separate domestic violence attacks that left two women and a teenage girl dead.

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1-800-799-SAFE (7233)

National Domestic Violence Hotline Website
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The first happened early Sunday morning in Merced. The second came Sunday afternoon in Madera. And the third happened late Sunday night near Atwater.

These wreaths mark the home where sheriff's deputies say a 29 year old mother of two was murdered by her husband. This is just one of three crime scenes following a weekend of deadly domestic violence attacks.

Travis Mask was in her rural Merced County home Sunday night when her neighbor's six year old daughter came to the front door.

Travis Mask: "She was beating on her door and she told me her momma had been shot and she and her little sister had been left alone with her mama."

Mask called 91-1 while her fiancé ran next door. That's where he found Ramona Schmitz laying motionless in her room with her six week old daughter, unharmed, in a swing just a few feet away.

Deputy Ed Katen: "When deputies arrived they found the 29 year old victim laying in the master bedroom with multiple gunshot wounds."

Merced County Sheriff's Deputies are now looking for Schmitz's husband, Christopher Marberry. Mask says the couple had an on again off again relationship, but nothing to indicate he would kill his wife. Deputies believe Marberry may be driving a black Lincoln Navigator with California license plate number 5-K- F-Y- 8-5-0. Anyone with information about this case is asked to call the Merced County Sheriff's Department.

Travis Mask: "He was always friendly, smiling, it's just the last thing you would expect."

Authorities say Schmitz's murder was the third deadly domestic violence attack this weekend. <p Early Sunday morning Merced police claim 47-year-old Xang Lee shot and killed his 17-year-old step-daughter Eileen Her, who would have been a senior at Golden Valley High School next fall. Police say he also shot his wife Neng Moua, but she managed to escape to a neighbor's house for help.

Carnie Ramirez, Victim's Neighbor: "She was saying that he was gonna kill her and kill her kids."

Moua's seven other young children were also home at the time, but were not hurt. They are now in child protective services while their mother remains in a Modesto hospital in critical condition.

Madera police are also investigating a murder that may be linked to domestic violence. They found a woman's body in this apartment complex Sunday afternoon, and then had a confrontation with the woman's boyfriend that ended with an officer shooting him. His wounds are not considered life threatening.

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1-800-799-SAFE (7233)

National Domestic Violence Hotline Website
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