Left: Darin McFarlin (El Dorado Sheriff's Office via KCRA). Right: Marissa Divodi-Lessa and Josiah Divodi-Lessa (GoFundMe).
A California fire captain has admitted to gunning down his girlfriend and her 7-year-old son while more than 1,000 of his fellow firefighters were battling a nearby wildfire.
Prosecutors tell Law&Crime that Darin McFarlin, 47, changed his not guilty plea last Friday to guilty after being charged in El Dorado County with two counts of first-degree murder for the August 2025 shooting deaths of 29-year-old Marissa N. Divodi-Lessa and her son, Josiah Divodi-Lessa, at the couple's home in Cameron Park, which is roughly 30 miles east of Sacramento. He was also accused of opening fire on another child who was in the home at the time but wasn't injured, resulting in charges of attempted murder and child abuse.
The El Dorado County District Attorney's Office tells Law&Crime that McFarlin pleaded guilty to the attempted murder and child abuse charges, as well as two counts of first-degree murder with special allegations of multiple murders, murder to prevent testimony, intentional discharge of a firearm causing great bodily injury and corporal injury to a cohabitant.
According to the amended criminal complaint, McFarlin admitted to blasting Divodi-Lessa inside his home as she tried to use a cellphone. Prosecutors alleged that she and Josiah were targeted "to prevent testimony" as they were witnesses "to a crime" and were "intentionally killed because of that fact." Details surrounding the crime that the pair allegedly witnessed have not been released.
"[Divodi-Lessa] used her cellphone and … [McFarlin] obtained the gun and went out to the dining room to kill her," the complaint says.
As Law&Crime previously reported, the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office said its deputies responded to the shooting around 9 p.m. that night. When they arrived, deputies found the two victims inside the home suffering from gunshot wounds. Divodi-Lessa was pronounced dead at the scene while paramedics rushed Josiah to the hospital, where he later died.
Investigators identified McFarlin as a person of interest and arrested him a few hours later on homicide charges. McFarlin works for California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, known as CalFire.
According to local NBC affiliate KCRA, McFarlin was a fire captain for the Amador El Dorado unit. The agency, which is tasked with fighting California's wildfires, was part of a coalition of more than 1,000 firefighters who were battling a nearby wildfire at the time of the murders.
A GoFundMe page set up for Divodi-Lessa's family describes her as a mother of two who "loved her babies." It refers to Josiah as "JoJo."
"She would always tuck [us] in at night and we would always tell each other, 'I love you. I love you more. I love you most,'" the mom's surviving daughter writes in the description. "My brother, Jojo, would always play games with me, especially Hide-and-Seek. That day, we made a box with cute necklaces. The box had a lock on it. It was filled with toys in it (as rewards) for whenever he was good. He was such a sweet boy."
McFarlin is scheduled to be sentenced on April 13.
David Harris contributed to this report.