`She died trying to protect her children,' sister says
Mother of 6 was shot to death by her husband outside her apartment
SAN JOSE >> The sister of a woman shot to death over the weekend by her husband in a double murder and suicide said Wednesday that the San Jose mother died trying to protect her six children.
Erica Pantoja, 29, a San Jose resident, was fatally shot Sunday around 1 a.m. in the 300 block of Crescent Village Circle, near River Oaks Park, according to San Jose police. Erica Pantoja was killed outside her North San Jose apartment building by her husband, Salvador Pantoja, 33, during a domestic dispute.
Salvador Pantoja also shot and killed Marco Carral Duran, 23, of San Jose, who was working nearby as a security guard and tried to intervene, authorities said. Salvador Pantoja then turned the gun on himself.
The Santa Clara County coroner's office ruled both Erica Pantoja and Marco Carral Duran's deaths to be homicides. Salvador Pantoja's death was ruled a suicide.
Outside the Chapel of Flowers Funeral Home on Wednesday, Erica Pantoja's older sister, Maria Chanon, said that her sibling had suffered abuse but was afraid to speak out.
“She called the cops various times but she didn't want to talk about the abuse. She was shy about it,” Chanon said. “She didn't want anybody to know or judge her. We told her to go to the police and tell them everything. I don't know what she was thinking.”
Chanon, 34, of San Jose said Erica Pantoja was in the process of divorcing her husband and that their children had witnessed the tragedy unfold Sunday. The couple shared six children, whose ages range from 1 to 10 years old. All six children were present during the killings, police said.
“She died tragically,” Chanon said. “She died trying to protect her children. There was this angel security guard. It's just been hard on us and the family. We just want to put her to rest now.”
Carral Duran stepped in to help during the fight before it turned deadly and spent the last moments of his life telling the children to run away, according to Chanon.
“The oldest one, who saw the whole incident, she still cries and she can't understand why her father would do that,” she said.
San Jose police Sgt. Christian Camarillo confirmed police had responded multiple times to domestic disputes between the couple but didn't specify when or how often such calls had occurred.
Chanon said that she tried to reason with Salvador Pantoja. “I talked to him one last time. He always told me, `I would never hurt your sister and I would never leave my children without their mother.' In the end, he still did it.”
The San Jose Police Officers' Association has set up a fundraiser. It can be reached at https://www.sjpoa.com/donatesjpoa-cf. Chapel of Flowers Funeral Home in San Jose also has donated a plot for Erica Pantoja.
“We're dealing with a family that has been through a lot,” Camarillo said. “We're asking for the community to help this family out during this difficult time — there's a lot of expenses they're facing. There's six children left behind in this tragic incident.”
Sean Pritchard, president of the San Jose Police Officers Association, said in a statement that “our hearts are broken over this senseless tragedy that has left innocent children without their
parents and San Jose police officers are doing what little we can to support these children. We encourage everyone to do what they can.”
Salvador Pantoja was carrying a firearm with the serial number filed off, according to police. There wasn't a restraining order between the involved couple at the time of the attack. Authorities said that at the time of the attack, Pantoja was on supervised release on an unrelated narcotics matter.
The killings mark the 15th and 16th deaths investigated as homicides so far this year by the San Jose Police Department.
In addition to Chanon, Erica Pantoja left behind a younger sister and two brothers. Erica Pantoja's children were residing with their maternal grandmother after the deaths. Chanon said that she, her other sister and her mother will raise the six children together.
“She was trying to be better … but in the end, it still didn't matter,” Chanon said. “We were going to celebrate her daughter's birthday (on Sunday). (Erica) was buying decorations and things for her. Her daughter is going to graduate this Friday from kindergarten, but now she's not going to be there.”