Inset, left to right: Marissa Mion (GoFundMe) and Ernesto Cuascut-Santini (Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Office). Background: The area in Mich. where Cuascut-Santini allegedly killed Mion (Google Maps).
Just days after vowing to kill the mother of his children, a Michigan father allegedly shot his girlfriend more than eight times inside their home while their kids were in a nearby room.
Ernesto Cuascut-Santini was arraigned this week on one count of open murder and related firearms offenses in connection with the July 5 slaying of Marissa Mion, court records show.
Deputies with the Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Office responded to a home in the Colonial Manor Mobile Home Park shortly after 3:30 p.m. Sunday after receiving a report of a shooting, local CBS affiliate WWMT reported, citing court documents. They found Cuascut-Santini outside the residence with blood spatter on his face and Mion lying on the bedroom floor, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.
During a subsequent autopsy, the medical examiner removed eight bullets from Mion's body, noting that she was actually shot more than eight times.
In an interview with detectives, Cuascut-Santini allegedly admitted to shooting Mion multiple times following an argument.
After the shooting, Cuascut-Santini allegedly called his sister and a friend to tell them what had happened. His sister then notified authorities.
At the scene, a responding sheriff's sergeant reported hearing Cuascut-Santini say, "I shot my girl," according to court records cited by Grand Rapids, Michigan, Fox affiliate WXMI.
According to both news stations, the couple's 1-year-old and 7-year-old children were inside the home during the shooting.
Witnesses told investigators the couple had argued repeatedly before the killing and said Cuascut-Santini had threatened Mion days earlier, telling her, "You are either going to be with me or I will kill you."
As relatives gathered this week to remember Mion, they urged people not to define her by the way she died.
"She was the best sister. She was the best mom. She was the best friend," her brother, Brandon Mion, told WXMI. "She was loved by the community. She was really… she was a sweet person. She felt like she was invincible. Resilient. Compassionate, smart, funny."
Her aunt, Cyndi Thomas, said Mion "would never want to be remembered as a victim."
"She would want to be remembered as a loving, caring mom," Thomas said.
According to a GoFundMe organized by Brandon Mion, the family had gathered the day before the shooting for a Fourth of July celebration; Mion brought banana pudding and stayed through the fireworks. The fundraiser says her children are now "left without their parents" as relatives seek financial support for funeral expenses and the children's future.