Man Allegedly Kills Daughter, Then Self in Murder-Suicide

A California man fatally shot his 8-year-old daughter before turning the gun on himself shortly after the girl’s mother filed a restraining order against him, according to a recent news release.

On July 12, officers responded to a home on Havenhurst Court in Modesto on a report of a suicidal person and saw an individual with a gun through a window, according to a press release from the Modesto Police Department.

Officers said they tried to communicate with the man — later identified as 50-year-old Donovan Halstead — and he told them he was going to come out of the home unarmed. But, before that could happen, police heard gunshots from inside the home and went inside to find Halstead suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Inside the home, officers also found Halstead's 8-year-old daughter dead from a gunshot wound, they said. She has not been named by police, who have described the incident as a murder-suicide.

The girl was a student in the Sylvan Union School District, KCRA 3 reports. Halstead was transported to a local hospital, where he died two days later, police said.

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According to The Modesto Bee, court records show the 8-year-old girl’s mother filed a restraining order against Halstead on July 10, and a judge approved it on July 12, about three hours before the violence occurred. The woman, who was not home at the time of shooting, also reportedly filed for divorce in April.

The mother claimed Halstead had been verbally and physically abusive throughout their relationship, according to two petitions obtained by The Modesto Bee. She alleged Halstead frequently called her names and threatened her, as well as pinned her down and choked her during an argument earlier this year. 

The mother also petitioned for a restraining order in 2016, the outlet reports, citing court documents. In that petition, the woman reportedly wrote, “[Halstead] has told me he attempted suicide in the past and I fear that he will harm us, and himself, given his erratic behavior.”

A spokesperson with the Modesto Police Department told The Modesto Bee the restraining orders are part of the investigation.

It’s unclear whether Halstead legally owned the gun used in the incident.

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