A portrait of the victims in Temecula murder suicide

Riverside County sheriff's Deputy Ron Johnson stands near a home in Temecula, Monday, Nov. 12, where five people were fatally shot Sunday. Four died on the scene and one died later in a hospital. (AP Photo/The Press-Enterprise, Ed Crisostomo)

The Times today follows up on the dark story of the murder suicide that left five dead in Temecula on Sunday. The story describes the victims - a hardworking single mother who was raising twin 15-year-old daughters, who she hoped one day would become responsible, churchgoing adults.

"I love my mom! She's the coolest ever," Nikita Williams wrote on her Web page. "My mom is truely who i look up to."

By all accounts, Naomi Grangroth was a hardworking single mother devoted to her 15-year-old twin daughters. Her hope, she told friends, was to raise them to become responsible, churchgoing adults.

On Tuesday, however, friends and relatives were struggling to understand how this 34-year-old mother's dream could end so suddenly, and so violently.

Grangroth, Nikita and her sister, Narissa, died Sunday at a Temecula house -- apparent victims of a murder-suicide shooting that took the lives of five people in a quiet cul-de-sac. Also found dead were Grangroth's boyfriend, Jeffrey Blixt, 45, and his 17-year-old son, Matthew.

Authorities are still trying to determine who fired the gun that killed all five people in Blixt's home near Temeku Hills Golf and Country Club. Sheriff's spokesman Dennis Gutierrez said that news reports indicating Matthew Blixt was the shooter "can't be confirmed at this time." Autopsies will be performed today or Thursday and could reveal who the killer was.

latimes.com