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An off-duty Sonoma County Sheriff's deputy fatally shot the mother of his three children at her apartment over the weekend and later killed himself in the parking lot of the coroner's office, Santa Rosa police said.
Investigators believe Jeremy Lyle, 44, shot his former domestic partner, Mari Bonnici, 38, about 7 p.m. Sunday at a Santa Rosa apartment complex in the 4600 block of Quigg Drive.
While officers were responding to the apartment, a man later identified as Lyle went to a nearby apartment and handed a baby to a resident there, telling her to call 911 because the child's mother was hurt.
The officers found Bonnici on a couch in the living room, with at least one gunshot wound. Twin toddlers were found unharmed in a back bedroom. The twins and the infant are all being cared for by family members, police said.
Bonnici was also employed by the sheriff's department, as a detention specialist.
About, 7:30 p.m., police were alerted that Lyle's truck was parked in the parking lot of the Sonoma County Coroner's Office, at 3336 Chanate Road.
Officers found Lyle standing in the bed of his truck, holding a handgun behind his back, police said.
They tried to get him to peacefully surrender, and a SWAT team negotiated with him until about 2 a.m. Monday, when Lyle shot himself and died, police said.
Investigators believe Lyle and Bonnici had been in a domestic partnership before they were separated, and that they were the parents of the three children.
Police believe the incident is related to domestic violence, but said there had been no reports of domestic violence involving the couple, police said.
