Police: Deaths In San Diego Home Ruled Murder-Suicide

San Diego police say the deaths of four people found at a Bay Terraces home came as a result of a murder-suicide.

On Tuesday morning, the bodies of 44-year-old Alfredo Pimienta, his 38-year-old wife Georgina and their daughters Priscilla — a 17-year-old senior at High Tech High School — and 9-year-old Emily were found at their home in the 100 block of Parkcreek Court.

A relative visiting the house about 6:30 a.m. spotted several people in the family’s backyard swimming pool, according to San Diego police.

Officers responding to the man’s 911 call found the bodies of Alfredo Pimienta and his daughters in the swimming pool, SDPD Lt. Ernie Herbert said.

Police then checked inside the house and found Georgina Pimienta dead in a bathtub.

All four family members appeared to have drowned, though official cause-of-death rulings were on hold pending autopsies, according to Maurice Luque, spokesman for the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department. The postmortem exams are scheduled for Wednesday, Herbert said.

Evidence at the residence and interviews with relatives provided “strong evidence” that the deaths were a case of murder-suicide, according to Herbert. Investigators believe they know which family member carried out the crime, but withheld that information pending final confirmation.

The motive remained undetermined in the late afternoon, the lieutenant said.

The relative who discovered the bodies told police Alfredo Pimienta had arranged to meet him at the family’s rented home early Tuesday morning, supposedly to discuss a transaction related to an automotive business the two men were jointly involved in, Hebert said.

Friends and relatives who showed up at the scene told 10News reporter Melissa Mecija that the deceased are all members of the Pimienta family.

Those close to the family said there were no signs anything was wrong.

“[They were] a really nice family. They really loved each other,” said Lisbet Miranda, a classmate of Priscilla at High Tech High.

She said Priscilla and her younger sister, Emily, were very close.

Friends said the last time they spoke with Priscilla Pimenta was Monday at about 9 p.m. They said she was excited about going to prom and finally graduating from high school.

“I’m in shock? I don’t know? It’s just surreal,” said Miranda.

Priscilla’s classmates were stunned to hear of her death. Some rushed to her home when they heard about what happened.

“We just came to make sure it was them,” said a friend.

High Tech High’s Dean of Students, Marcus Bell, refused to talk about Priscilla, who had plans to attended college at Sonoma State University where she was going to study biology.

“She was just always nice to me, like in the halls. I mean, I’m younger, so seniors are always kind of ruder? but she always hung out with me and treated me well,” said another friend and classmate, Genevieve Gekerbor.