Family of woman killed in La Quinta speak on history of domestic abuse

Sunday morning, officers from the La Quinta Police Department officers found a dead woman inside a home in the 46400 block of Dune Palms Drive. Officers said the woman had signs of obvious trauma.

Rosie Reyes identified the woman as Patricia Cecena, 26, a mother of four young children and Reyes’ cousin.

Police sasy Jose Meza, 27, of La Quinta was arrested on charges of first-degree murder.

Reyes says the two had been married for 10 years and had a history of domestic violence.

Cecena’s property manager, Michael Paulmoss, says he’s not surprised to see this kind of violence in the park but never thought Cecena would be at the center of it.

“Her (Cecena) and her kids never caused no problems. I wouldn’t expect something like that to happen to her out of all the people living in here. She’s one of the more nicer ones,” said Paulmoss.

He added, Meza and Cecena didn’t appear to have problems, but Reyes told us, over the phone, there were signs of domestic violence between the two.

“We’ve heard rumors that that was happening, but never the less, none of us took initiative to get involved because they were just rumors,” said Reyes.

“The advice I would give to anyone who’s experienced intimate partner violence or any domestic violence, is it will always escalate,” said Angelina Coe.

Angelina Coe is the executive director at Shelter from the Storm, a local resource for women and children seeking help from domestic violence situations.

“Majority of the clients we serve are women and majority of the abusers are male,” said Coe.

Sunday’s homicide marks the fourth in the valley this year, three of those have a connection to domestic violence according to family who’ve reached out to us.

On Jan 7 Police found the bodies of a husband and wife behind a home in La Quinta. The deaths were later ruled a murder-suicide.

On Jan 13 A man shot and killed the mother of his children in Cathedral City. The man then shot at a nearby officer and was killed by police.

If you or anyone you know are going through domestic abuse, contact Shelter from the Storm at (760) 328 – SAFE (7233). You can also call their toll free line at 1(800)775-6055. Click here to visit Shelter from the Storm’s website.