West Hills High Student Found Dead in San Carlos Home

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A 55-year-old San Carlos woman arrested Saturday is suspected of fatally shooting her husband and 14-year-old daughter, a student at , possibly on Wednesday, then staying home with the bodies for three days.

Regina Renee Johnson is suspected of killing 56-year-old Reuben Johnson and her daughter, Aaliyah Johnson, the U-T San Diego reported.

"It's like we can't wake up from this nightmare," Deborah Spinner, a sister of Reuben Johnson's who lives in Altamonte Springs, Florida.

"There are so many questions. Why, why would you do this to Aaliyah? She was a child."  

A motive for the killings, if known, has not been disclosed.

Reuben Johnson served in the Navy for 20 years, retiring in 2009 as a chief petty officer. He was working as a security guard, Spinner said.

Aaliyah, his youngest daughter, was a cheerleader and also was a child model who was featured in a circular for a department store, she said.     

"She was a beautiful girl, inside and out," Spinner said.    

The family of three had rented a second-floor condominium at the Lomas del Cerro complex on Navajo Road, near Jackson Drive, for more than a year, police said.

"It's our belief that the victims were killed sometime Wednesday morning and the suspect remained in the (home) the entire time," San Diego police Lt. Kevin Rooney said.     

Regina Johnson had called a relative in another state and mentioned that her husband and daughter were dead. That relative reported the deaths.

More than 100 friends and fellow students gathered in front of the West Hills campus on Sunday to remember Aaliyah and mourn her death with a memorial of photos, balloons, flowers and candles. Throughout the day Monday students came to the memorial in groups to pay respect for their classmate.

-City News Service

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