SANTEE, Calif. (KGTV) - Loved ones are grieving the loss of a father of two and a health care worker, the victim in an apparent murder-suicide in Santee.
“I no longer have a son, and he no longer has a brother,” said a tearful Leigh DeVault in a Zoom interview with her son Ryan.
”It’s a bad dream,” Ryan DeVault said.
For Leigh and Ryan, who live in Ohio, the shock is slow to wear off.
Leigh said her 36-year-old son Wesley, who lived in Clairemont, went to visit his girlfriend at her home in Santee Friday night.
She said Wesley's girlfriend of about six months, Lindsey Brown, was separated from her husband, Daniel Isaac, but still living with him and their four children to save on expenses.
DeVault said Isaac got along with Wesley and actually invited Wesley to move in which he declined.
“They had gone out for drinks. He (Isaac) was nice to him," DeVault said. "They were buddies."
Leigh said that day, according to Wesley's girlfriend, Isaac had been drinking heavily at a bar.
The couple had agreed to file divorce papers a few days later, and Leigh was told that Isaac said something before Wesley arrived.
“She stated, ‘He banged on the door. Are you sure you want this divorce?’ Her answer was ‘Yes,’” Ryan said.
Investigators believe after Wesley arrived and talked to a neighbor, Isaac walked over and shot him in that garage. Leigh said Isaac returned home and admitted to the shooting.
“He goes, ‘I may go to prison for the rest of life but Wes is no more,’“ Leigh said.
Deputies said after they responded, they stopped Isaac's truck a block away, and when they approached, he shot and killed himself.
“This is stuff you watch on the news … It’s a nightmare,” she said.
It's a nightmare Leigh says that claimed the life of her happy and funny son, who worked as a surgical technician at a local clinic.
Leigh said Wesley was divorced, but devoted to his 6-year-old son and 12-year-old stepdaughter.
“They were everything to him," she said. "Now, these children are going to grow up without his dad … It’s just senseless tragedy."
“He was my heart, my soul, my everything,” Brown said.
Investigators haven't released a motive for the shooting.
Anyone with information is asked to email the Sheriff's Homicide Unit at SDSO.Homicide@sdsheriff.org.
A Gofundme campaign has been set up to help the family with funeral expenses.
