[UPDATED with New Charges:] Antonio Potenciano Gana, OC Homicide No. 15: Wife Accused of Shooting Him and Son on Mother's Day


UPDATE, JULY 5, 10:01 A.M.: Prosecutors filed additional charges today against Annamaria Magno Gana, the 41-year-old accused of killing her husband and trying to kill her sons on Mother's Day at their Tustin Ranch home.

Besides a murder count and sentencing enhancements, Gana is now charged with trying to kill both her sons, ages 9 and 16. She was originally accused of only trying to kill the older boy, who sheriff's deputies reported had been shot twice in the chest.

While their mother is currently being held without bail, the boys are in the care of a family member, according to the Orange County District Attorney's office (OCDA).
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Scheduled for continued arraignment today, Gana now faces one felony count each of special circumstances murder by lying in wait, two felony counts of attempted murder, and sentencing enhancements for the personal discharge of a firearm causing death and the personal discharge of a firearm causing great bodily injury.

She could get life in state prison without the possibility of parole if convicted of those charges.

Her late 72-year-old husband, Antonio Potenciano Gana, was formerly the general
manager of the Manila International Airport Authority.


UPDATE, MAY 12, 1:20 P.M.: A Filipino newspaper reports Antonio Potenciano Gana, the 72-year-old Mother's Day murder victim, is the former general
manager of the Manila International Airport Authority, which oversees
the airport in the country's capital.

The Philippine Star also claims the slain man's 41-year-old wife is Annamaria Magno Gana, and that the couple's youngest son is 8. Orange County law enforcement previously reported the suspected killer's first name is Annamaria and the boy credited with wrestling a gun away from her is 9.

An odd twist courtesy of the Star after the jump . . .

The paper claims Antonio Gana married the suspect, his second wife, after converting to Islam.

His first wife
then accused him of bigamy, reports the Star.

UPDATE, MAY 12, 11:55 A.M.: A Filipino news site has filled in more blanks about the couple at the center of a Mother's Day murder in Tustin Ranch.

ABS-CBN News, the Phillippine media giant's online outlet, reports that 72-year-old murder victim Antonio Potenciano Gana was a former Manila airport official.

His 41-year-old wife and suspected killer, Annamaria Magno Gana, is being treated for breast cancer.

In fact, her arraignment on charges of murdering her husband and trying
to shoot her 16-year-old son to death was delayed due to her
medical condition. It is unclear whether the medical hold was related to her cancer or unspecified injuries she reportedly suffered in Sunday afternoon's shooting, however.

She may be arraigned as soon as today.

One big hole remains to be filled in this story: what prompted her alleged crimes.
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UPDATE, MAY 10, 9:55 A.M.: The Orange County District Attorney's office (OCDA) has announced a Wednesday arraignment date for the alleged killer of Antonio Potenciano Gana and attempted killer of the 72-year-old Tustin Ranch resident's teen son: the victims' wife and mother respectively, Annamaria Magno Gana.

No time has been set for the hearing in Santa Ana Jail for the 41-year-old accused of the Mother's Day shootings in her home.

Conviction on the current charges could put her in state prison for 82
years to life.

UPDATE, MAY 9, 2:57 P.M.: The Orange County District Attorney's office (OCDA) just announced charges against 41-year-old Annamaria Magno Gana, who is accused of shooting her husband to death and trying to kill her teen son at their Tustin Ranch home on Mother's Day.

Gana is charged with one felony count each of murder and attempted
murder with sentencing enhancements for the personal discharge of a
firearm causing death and the personal discharge of a firearm causing
great bodily injury. If convicted, she could get 82
years to life in state prison.

Around 4:30 p.m. Sunday, she allegedly armed herself with a gun and fired a bullet into a bedroom ceiling of her home in the 18400 block of Manning Drive in unincorporated Tustin.

When Antonio Potenciano Gana, 72, and the couple's 16-year-old son rushed into the room, the wife and mother allegedly shot her husband in the chest.


As the boy turned to flee, Ms. Gana is accused firing at him. A bullet struck the teen's arm, but he managed to call 9-1-1 on his cell phone for help.

Meanwhile, the woman's 9-year-old son wrestled the gun away from her and took it outside, according to the OCDA. Our earlier report notes sheriff's deputies found a handgun on the neighbor's lawn.

Gana was arrested by arriving deputies and taken to Western Medical Center in Santa Ana for treatment of undisclosed minor injuries sustained
during the attack
. That's the same hospital where her husband was pronounced dead and her teenager received treatment for his wounds.

Both boys are now in protective custody. Gana is being held in lieu of $1 million bail. Her arraignment date is to be determined. Senior Deputy District Attorney Ebrahim Baytieh of the Homicide Unit drew the straw to prosecute the case

ORIGINAL POST, MAY 9, 10 A.M.: A woman got into an
argument with a 72-year-old man at a house they shared for about five
months in the 18400 block of Manning Drive in unincorporated Tustin
Sunday afternoon.

Just before 4:30 p.m., the Orange County
Sheriff's Department received reports of shots fired in the
neighborhood. As deputies were en route, more reports of shots heard
rolled in.

Deputies arrived to find a handgun on a next-door neighbor's front lawn,
a 16-year-old boy who'd been shot at least twice in the upper part of
his body and the 72-year-old shot at least once in the chest.

Both
were taken to Western Medical Center in Santa
Ana, where the man was later pronounced
dead. The boy was in stable condition. He also lived in the home with the dead man, as did a 9-year-old boy who was not injured. He is now staying with relatives.

Investigators suspect the woman of the house shot the man and teen. She'd been questioned but not arrested at last report. No identities have been released yet

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