Fresno murder-suicide: Man kills woman day after she gets restraining order against him

UPDATE: The Fresno Police Department has identified the man accused of killing the mother of his child as 40-year-old William Francisco Rivera.

The Fresno Sheriff's Office has identified the victim as Kimieona Holt, 26, of Fresno.

---

A Fresno man killed his child's mother and then killed himself Saturday morning, one day after the victim got a restraining order against him.

Police got calls about the murder-suicide at Burgan and Inyo in southeast Fresno just after 9 a.m.

They found a woman dead from a gunshot wound in the bedroom of a home.

Officers tracked down the suspect about a block away, but they say he pointed a handgun to his temple and ran away.

They caught up to Rivera at Kings Canyon and Armstrong.

"He stopped," said Fresno police chief Jerry Dyer. "He turned. He faced the officers. He was still armed with that handgun and he placed it up to his head, fired one round and took his own life."

Chief Dyer said the 40-year-old suspect killed a 26-year-old woman with whom he shared a 1-year-old child. The child was not a witness to any of Saturday's violence.

A judge granted the victim a domestic violence restraining order Friday, but the man violated it Saturday morning. The victim called a sister, but the phone line went silent so family members immediately called police.

"What we have in our city is a small child that's going to grow up without its parents," said Dyer.

Police say the suspect had a history of domestic violence.

It's been less than a month since police announced that domestic violence cases were up by 35% compared to the year before - something Nicole Linder of the Marjaree Mason Center has seen firsthand.

"And this was a no-win situation and now we have a child without a mother or father," Linder says.

As the Marjaree Mason Center continues to see an overcapacity at its shelter for victims, Linder stressed the importance of keeping the conversation about domestic violence going.

"Until we get to the place where we are talking about it... we're going to perpetuate these cycles," she said.

The 26-year-old victim's mother told police that she was a foster parent to many children in Fresno.

"We do know there are a lot of kids out there who are going to be hurting because their foster parent being killed," Chief Dyer said.

Victims of domestic violence seeking safe housing and/or services can drop by the Marjaree Mason Center Administration Building, at 1600 M Street, or call the 24-hour hotline at (559) 233-HELP (4357).