Man Allegedly Shoots Wife, Sister In Nursing Home ‘Mercy Killings’

A 60-year-old man shot and killed his wife, who was suffering from dementia, and then walked into a convalescent home and killed his sister as she lay in a vegetative state, Los Angeles police said.

The man surrendered to officers Wednesday morning at the Country Villa Sheraton nursing facility in the North Hills area of Los Angeles, Lt. Paul Vernon said.

A gun was recovered at the scene.

The suspect’s name was not immediately released.

The sister, who was shot once in the head, was identified as Lisa Nave, 58. She had been in a vegetative state for several years, Vernon said.

After learning of Nave’s death, family members called sheriff’s deputies and requested a welfare check on the suspect’s wife, he said.

Deputies found the wife’s body at a home in the north Los Angeles County community of Canyon Country. According to family, the wife was suffering from dementia, the lieutenant said.

Vernon characterized the shootings as “apparent mercy killings.”