Sacramento County officials release names of three found dead in Arden Arcade murder-suicide

Authorities have released the names of a Sacramento man who reportedly killed two family members before turning the gun on himself in an apparent murder-suicide Friday inside an Arden Arcade apartment.

Jeremie Jay DeWitt Jr., 46, was the man found dead Friday morning in the Howe Avenue apartment, according to the Sacramento County Coroner’s Office. Two women, identified by the coroner as 51-year-old Katina Elliott and 60-year-old Pamela Marie Elliott, also were found dead in the home.

Sgt. Amar Gandhi, a Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office spokesman, said last week that DeWitt shot and killed the two women before killing himself. He said the three people were family members, but the Sheriff’s Office has not disclosed how they are related pending further investigation.

It remains unclear if the three resided in the apartment.

Shortly before 11 a.m. Friday, sheriff’s officials received a 911 call reporting a shooting inside one of the apartments at the Eleven Hundred apartment complex in the 1100 block of Howe Avenue, just north of Northrop Avenue.

Deputies responded to the reported shooting and learned there was as many as three people inside the apartment.

Sheriff’s officials initially reported that the suspected shooter may have been holding a woman against her will in a possible hostage situation. Gandhi said some of the surrounding apartments were evacuated for about an hour.

A sheriff’s SWAT team and negotiators were called to the scene but were unable to make any contact with the suspect after leaving phones at the front door and using loudspeakers to communicate with those inside. Gandhi said the SWAT team, using flash bangs and other tactics, breached the apartment and found the three dead people inside.

Gandhi said no gunshots were fired by deputies.

Kelly Whitcomb lives in the apartment complex across from where Friday’s incident occurred. She said she remembers hearing at least one gunshot. She said she watched SWAT team members break down a wooden front patio fence to gain better access to get inside the apartment.

Whitcomb, who has lived there since 2015, said she knew a couple who live there but couldn’t remember their names. She said there’s been violence at the apartment complex before, but it’s been fairly calm there for at least the past two years.

“Absolute tragedy. The why is what I don’t know,” Whitcomb said. “It’s kind of like a gut punch ... I just wish things like this wouldn’t happen.”