Updated at 1:30 p.m., 12:20 .M.— Authorities on Monday identified a man and woman—a couple engaged to be married—who were shot to death inside the man's car in the parking structure of the Irvine building where they lived.
Police received a call at 9:10 p.m. Sunday about a person slumped over in a parked car at 2100 Scholarship and went to investigate, Irvine Police Department spokeswoman Lt. Julia Engen said.
Keith Lawrence, 27, and Monica Quan, 28, were found dead inside Lawrence's KIA, which was parked at the top of the five-story parking structure of their residence, Engen said.
According to the Moorpark College Athletics website, after attending the community college, Lawrence went on to Concordia University in Irvine.
On his Facebook page, Lawrence reported he graduated from Moorpark High School in 2003 and from Concordia in 2008.
Quan also attended Concordia University, which is where the couple met. She had served as an assistant basketball coach at Thousand Oaks' California Lutheran University.
"She was one of those great individuals that when they're in your life,
your life is better,'' said California Lutheran women's basketball head coach Roy Dow. "She had a great passion for basketball.''
Dow recalled how he would get calls from Quan when she was away from work about a unique play she saw during a game on TV or to tell him a documentary was being aired about the University of Connecticut women's basketball team.
He said Quan called him about a week ago to tell him about her engagement to Lawrence.
"She was a very private person, and she told me she didn't want me to hear it through the grapevine,'' Dow said.
Lawrence was seeking a career in law enforcement, which made him a good match for Quan, whose father was an officer with the Los Angeles Police Department, Dow said.
Lawrence graduated from the Ventura County Sheriff's Academy and was working as a patrol officer at USC's Department of Public Safety. He joined the department in August, said USC spokesman Carl Marziali.
John Thomas, the chief of USC's Department of Public Safety, issued a
statement to his officers today, calling the murders "senseless'' and asking for their "thoughts and prayers'' for the victims' families and friends.
"During his brief tenure of service here at USC, Officer Lawrence
proved to be an honorable, compassionate and professional member of our department and the Trojan family,'' Thomas said. "We are a better department and the USC campus community is a safer place as a result of his service.''
The deaths are being investigated as a double homicide and there is no suspect information at this time, Engen said. As well, she said, there was no evidence the couple was being robbed. The parking structure and high-density residential community is highly secure with key-card access only, she said.
"I'm quiet if I dont know you, but i love to make people laugh and sometimes I talk too much, so stop me when i do and i'll gladly stop," Lawrence wrote on his Facebook page. "I'm that guy that is every girl's best friend cuz (sic) I'm not there to hit on you. I'm there to get to know you."
