Mother, Grandmother Fatally Shot During Child Custody Exchange: RivCo

MORENO VALLEY, CA — A man was arrested in connection with Friday's fatal shootings of two women in Moreno Valley following the custody exchange of two children, the Riverside County Sheriff's Department announced.

Salvador Velasquez Jr., 39, the father of 7-year-old twin boys whom he shared joint custody of with one of the women he gunned down, was arrested at his home in Coachella and booked on suspicion of two counts of murder, according to the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.

El Cajon residents Esmerelda Casillas, 36, and her mother, Ofelia Velazquez de Casillas, 68, were identified as the victims who were found by deputies in a car with gunshot wounds, the sheriff's department said.

Deputies from the Riverside County Sheriff's Department's Moreno Valley station responded to a report of a shooting at around 7:50 p.m. Friday in the area of Eucalyptus Avenue and the Old Highway 215 in Moreno Valley.

The two women were taken to a hospital, where they both died of their injuries, the sheriff's department said.

Velasquez received the twin boys from the women prior to the shooting. During a search warrant of his Coachella home on Nov. 19, the two boys were found safe.

“We never thought she was in danger because we thought the kids were important to him,” Adrian Olascoaga, 30, who identified himself as the nephew of Esmeralda Casillas, told The Sun. “She was a good mom. She was a business owner trying to do the best she could to provide for them.”

Olascoaga told the newspaper that his aunt, Esmerelda Casillas, was a good mother who ran a tire shop.

"She was a business owner trying to do the best she could to provide for them," she told the newspaper.

Velasquez is being held without bail and expected to appear in court on Nov. 23, according to jail records.

The investigation was ongoing and no further information wasimmediately available. Anyone with information about the deaths was encouragedto call Investigator Cline at 951-955-2777 or Investigator Castellanos at 951-486-6700.