A California fire captain charged in the August shooting deaths of his girlfriend and her young son at their Cameron Park home pleaded guilty to the killings in El Dorado Superior Court, according to the District Attorney's Office.
As reported by The Sacramento Bee, Darin Blake McFarlin, 47, changed his plea Friday on murder charges in the Aug. 21 shootings of Marissa Herzog, 29, and her son, Josiah, at the home in the 3000 block of Oakwood Road in Cameron Park.
According to prosecutors, McFarlin attacked Herzog in her bedroom "resulting in a traumatic condition," before fatally shooting her in the home's dining room, where she had fled while trying to call for help on a cellphone. Herzog was pronounced dead at the scene. He then shot Josiah.
Prosecutors alleged that Herzog and Josiah were targeted "to prevent testimony" as they were witnesses "to a crime" and were "intentionally killed because of that fact." McFarlin then shot at Herzog's daughter, who survived the shooting.
Josiah succumbed to his injuries at a hospital. McFarlin also faced charges of attempted murder and felony child abuse likely to cause great bodily injury or death in connection with the attack on the girl, according to an amended criminal complaint filed Friday in El Dorado Superior Court.
McFarlin, a California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection captain in the agency's Amador-El Dorado unit, had worked for the agency since 2000. He was fired, according to Cal Fire, following his arrest.
McFarlin fled El Dorado County after the shootings. Sheriff's deputies in Mono County arrested him early Aug. 22 on Highway 395 near Bridgeport — a nearly four-hour drive from El Dorado County — and took him into custody without incident.
McFarlin is scheduled to be sentenced on April 13. He faces the possibility of death, or life in prison without parole.
