A former professional skateboarder and a neighbor described as kind-hearted were allegedly shot and killed by her boyfriend as she tried to end their relationship.
Police said Vanessa Lopez, 24, and her neighbor, Richard Brady, 48, were discovered with gunshot wounds in a fourth-floor hallway of their apartment building on East Monterey Avenue in Pomona, California, at about 3.20pm on Thursday.
Paramedics from the Los Angeles County Fire Department attempted life-saving treatment, but both victims were pronounced dead at the scene.
Investigators later named 48-year-old Robert Galtman as the suspect. Authorities said Galtman also lived in the building and had been Lopez’s boyfriend for roughly two years.
Lopez’s family has since told CBS Los Angeles that Galtman had been abusive toward her, and said relatives had repeatedly urged her to leave the relationship.
Her mother, Sheila Lopez, said she believes her youngest daughter may have been trying to break up with Galtman when the shooting occurred.
“I believe she was walking away — this is why this all happened,” she told KTLA.
Police said Galtman fled after the fatal shooting. An automatic license plate reader later detected his black Kia sedan traveling north on the 5 Freeway in Sylmar at around 5pm, ABC 7 reported.
Vanessa Lopez, 24, was found at her apartment building in Pomona, California on Thursday suffering from a gunshot wound
She and her neighbor, Richard Brady, 48 (pictured) were pronounced dead at the scene
But when California Highway Patrol officers tried to pull him over, Galtman continued to speed away in a chase that lasted nearly an hour and a half.
Galtman was seen throwing items from his vehicle and dodging several spike strips, according to KTLA.
The chase finally came to an end when officers used a PIT maneuver to stop the car, disabling his tire.
Galtman then surrendered himself to police at around 7.10pm and was taken into custody about 20 minutes later, police said. He is now being held on a $3.1 million bail and is scheduled to be arraigned on Tuesday.
Lopez’s dog was also pulled from the vehicle.
It was only while watching the pursuit unfold that Lopez’s family said they realized what had happened.
‘We were watching the chase after it was live and my mom noticed the car and the dog that they rescued,’ Klarissa Lopez, the victim’s sister, told ABC 7.
‘We called Pomona police and they confirmed it with fingerprints that it was my sister.’
‘I know she didn’t deserve to get murdered,’ she added to CBS Los Angeles. ‘A grown man murdered my sister.’
The suspect, Robert Galtman, 48, fled the scene in a black Kia sedan
Police chased him for about an hour and a half before he surrendered himself to authorities
Galtman, who dated Lopez for two years and was said to be abusive, is being held on a $3.1 million bail and is scheduled to be arraigned on Tuesday
The girls’ father, Coby Lopez, even went as far as calling Galtman ‘a coward.’
‘I don’t know what kind of problems she was going through, but we tried to help her,’ he noted.
Instead, Lopez apparently sought help from Brady.
His brother told the San Gabriel Valley Tribune how Richard told him how the 24-year-old was being abused by her boyfriend and he ‘helped her out of that situation.’
‘They became friends. They talked and visited each other,’ David Brady said, describing how his brother ‘stuck up for those who couldn’t stick up for themselves.
‘Unfortunately, he walked into a situation out of his control.’
Richard’s friend, Genevieve L Bobrow, also described him as ‘the kind of person who would give the shirt off his back to help someone in need.
‘When others turned away, Richard stepped forward. When someone needed a place to stay, a helping hand, a meal, encouragement or simply someone to listen, Richard was there without hesitation.
‘I witnessed firsthand the kindness and compassion he showed others,’ she continued in a heartbreaking social media tribute.
‘One of the most selfless things I ever saw was when a mutual friend was released from the hospital with nowhere to go and no one to care for her. Richard immediately opened his home, welcomed her in and cared for her during her recovery.
‘That was who he was,’ Bobrow wrote. ‘Helping people wasn’t something he did occasionally – it was simply who he was.’
Brady, a father-of-two, was described as selfless
An online fundraiser has been set up to support his two children
She went on to write that Brady ‘had a presence that was impossible to ignore.’
‘He was truthful, hilarious, handsome, energetic and full of life. He could walk into a room and instantly make it better. He had a unique perspective on life and could find humor even in difficult situations. He made people laugh, made them think and most importantly, made them feel like they mattered.’
Bobrow concluded by saying her ‘heart especially breaks for his children.’
‘They deserved many more years with their father. They deserved more memories, more laughter, more conversations and more time.
‘No child should have to endure such a devastating loss,’ she wrote.
An online fundraiser that was set up to support Brady’s two children had raised $2,400 by Sunday evening.
But Heather Cantu, the mother of his 14-year-old son, said she just hopes ‘my son can recover from this knowing his dad was a good man.’
Lopez was remembered for her smile that ‘could light up a room’
A separate fundraiser was also set up to help the Lopez family with Vanessa’s funeral and memorial expenses.
It describes the 24-year-old as the youngest of five daughters who was ‘full of life, love and dreams for the future.
‘Her smile could light up a room, and she had a way of making everyone around her feel loved and valued,’ reads the fundraiser, which had raised nearly $8,000 as of Sunday night.
‘She was a daughter, a sister, a friend, and so much more to those who knew her. The pain of losing her is unimaginable, and our hearts are broken.’
Her father, Coby, added to ABC 7 that he and Sheila ‘don’t know how we’re going to go on, but we have four other daughters. We have a life that we still have to maintain and just a picture in our head of her smiling. That’s never going to go away.’
