Man, Woman in Apparent Murder-Suicide Are Identified

SANTA CRUZ - Police on Monday identified a man and his sister-in-law found dead at a Santa Cruz apartment last week in an apparent murder-suicide.

Howard Atkinson, 35, and Cherish Villapia, 22, were each found with one gunshot wound at an apartment in the 100 block of Chestnut Street last Tuesday, police said. It appeared Atkinson shot Villapia before he turned the gun on himself, police said.

Officers had responded to the second-story unit on a report of suspicious circumstances at about 6:50 p.m., according to police. A concerned relative had called the home multiple times but no one picked up the phone, police said.

A welfare check showed the pair were locked in a room of the apartment for a long period of time, according to police.

Officers found one handgun at the scene and are working to determine its owner, according to police.

Atkinson lived in Texas and recently moved to the Santa Cruz apartment, police said. He was not in a relationship with Villapia, who was from Iowa and visited during the holidays, according to police.

They were both pronounced dead at the scene, police said. Investigators are awaiting autopsy and forensic lab results to confirm the incident was a murder-suicide, according to police.

-Bay City News