A 5-year-old boy saw his mother fatally shot at their Lake Murray apartment late Tuesday and told investigators her boyfriend did it, San Diego police said.

Police later arrested Roderick Lamar Harris, 32, suspected of slaying Vanessa Marie Bobo at their Summit Park Village apartment on Lake Arrowhead Drive.

A wedding funding website, Honeyfund, showed that Bobo and Harris planned to marry next year, on July 1.

Bobo’s sons, ages 5 and 1, were in the same room when she got into a loud argument with Harris, police homicide Lt. Manny Del Toro said.


“We don’t know what the argument was about,” he said. “We know if was heated. There was reference to a shooting, and shots fired.”

Neighbors reported hearing the argument, then several gunshots shortly before 1 a.m. Officers found Bobo with several gunshot wounds to her upper body, Del Toro said.

He said officers and medics were unable to save Bobo.

The children were afraid, but unharmed, by the time police got to the apartment, Del Toro said. The younger boy is Harris’s son, but the older one is not, he said.


“The kids were crying pretty intently,” Del Toro said. “The sheer noise of the gunshots brings terror to a small child.”

He said Bobo’s family later took the children into their safekeeping.

The 5-year-old helped identify Harris as the shooter, and neighbors described the man who fled the apartment, Del Toro said. Police got several tips of possible sightings of Harris, and finally that he was at a family member’s home on Woodlawn Avenue in Chula Vista. He was arrested there by Chula Vista police about 12:20 p.m.

His blue Nissan Maxima was found at another location in San Diego. Police broadcast information that he might have two handguns. The weapon used in the shooting has not been found, police said.


Harris suffered some cuts, including one that may require stitches on one arm, but Del Toro said it wasn’t clear if the wounds were self-inflicted. Harris was taken to a hospital for treatment.

There was no documented history of domestic violence between Harris and Bobo, police said.

A GoFundMe account was set up to raise money for Bobo’s funeral, according to a posting by her sister, Beverly Pridgen.

“She was a free-spirited loving outgoing outspoken ambitious woman who loved adventures and was always in search of new life experience,” Pridgen wrote.


Bobo’s sister wrote on the GoFundMe account that Vanessa, the oldest of four sisters, was an athlete who got a full track and field scholarship to California State University, Los Angeles, then she returned home to be closer to family.

Bobo was born in Little Rock, Ark., her sister said.

A family friend, Mike Okenwa, posted on Facebook that Bobo’s death “is just so damn tragic.”

“Vanessa, since Morse you’ve been a kick ass person and I am blessed to have known you and your family,” Okenwa wrote


The Honeyfund site for Harris and Bobo included a note to family and friends invited to attend their planned wedding. It said, in part, “We are honored you will share in our special day. Your presence is our gift!

“We’re lucky to already have a home but there is a few things we need, so please enjoy browsing this wish list, where you can contribute to our future and help make our dreams come true.”

Money raised there was to go to reserving the Admiral Kidd Club on the Miramar Marine Corps base, food and decorations, and some furnishings for their home.

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