Amy Beam
Autopsies today in apparent murder-suicide of daughter and mother
By RANDI ROSSMANN
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Monday, February 22, 2010 at 11:51 a.m.
Last Modified: Monday, February 22, 2010 at 4:40 p.m.
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Amy Marie Beam Beam, 28, and her six-year-old daughter Anjelee Sanchez had been dead about four days when they were found Friday, lying side by side on a bed in their Sonoma apartment, Lt. Chris Spallino reported.
Detectives said notes and letters written by Beam and interviews with friends led them to suspect Beam killed Anjelee by giving her an overdose of medications, then took pills to kill herself, Spallino said.
Dozens of pills and medications were discovered in close proximity to the bodies. But investigators would not comment on what those medications were.
The autopsies were performed Monday morning as counselors descended on Prestwood Elementary School, where young Anjalee was a first-grade student. It is the second time in less then three months that tragedy has claimed a student at the school.
Grace and Aiden Maloney, 5, and 8, died along with their parents, John and Susan Maloney, when their minivan was hit by a speeding driver who ran a red light Nov. 28.
Now the loss of Anjalee comes as another shock to the 500-student school, Prestwood Principal Beth Wolk said.
“She was a wonderful little girl. She was a good student, a great reader. She loved to play, loved to draw and she loved Hello Kitty," Wolk said.
Spallino said, “there were a number of things that led her to this action,” but he would not provide details on what those things are. No information was given about the notes she left.
How the young girl ingested the pills wasn't known. There were no signs capsules had been broken open and mixed with something for easier swallowing.
Toxicology test results were expected to take at least a few weeks before a final determination on what types of pills were ingested.
The bodies were in an advanced state of decomposition. Whether the two died at close to the same time wasn't known.
Amy Beam had sent a text message on Monday, giving detectives a parameter for when the two were last known to be alive.
Four counselors from throughout the Sonoma Valley school district came to Prestwood Monday to meet with staff and students.
Barbara Cullen, director of the Wilmar Center, which focuses on child mourning, also visited with staff and counselors Monday morning to discuss how to talk to the children about the death.
Wolk acknowledged the loss of the two Maloney children in November, followed by the loss of Anjalee is a heavy blow to the school.
“We'll get through this because we care and support each other,” she said.
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Mother in apparent murder-suicide in Sonoma ID'd
Press Democrat
Published: Saturday, February 20, 2010 at 6:30 p.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, February 20, 2010 at 6:30 p.m.
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The Sonoma woman who apparently killed her daughter and then herself was described Saturday as a loner, but someone who doted on her child.
“I am just shocked about this whole thing, I can’t get over it, her whole world was around that little girl,” said Jerry Marino of Sonoma, owner of the Casa de Sonoma apartment complex where the two lived.
The sheriff’s office on Saturday was still withholding the names of the woman and child, who is 6 years old.
Marino identified the woman as Amy Beam, who grew up in Benicia. He said she was in her late 20s or early 30s.
Marino went to their apartment Friday morning with the woman’s brother, Josh Beam of Napa, after Amy Beam had not been to work in a week and no one was able to reach her by telephone.
“She was kind of a loner, stayed to herself,” Marino said.
She worked for Dr. Lee Schaller, a Sonoma oral surgeon, Marino said.
The bodies of the mother and child were found on the bed in the master bedroom, where they may have been for a week, said sheriff’s Detective Sgt. Tim Duke.
There was no apparent cause of death. Autopsies were being conducted this weekend, Duke said.
Residents of the apartment complex, just three blocks from the historic plaza, said they saw the mother and girl, but only spoke to them in passing and didn’t know their names.
Most of the tenants keep to themselves in the complex.
“I would see her when I would pick up the mail and in the carport, the next car to my truck is hers,” said resident Salvador Quintero. “You see only her all the time. No friends, no boyfriends, no anything.”
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Sonoma woman, 6-year-old die in apparent murder-suicide
By BOB NORBERG
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Friday, February 19, 2010 at 6:48 p.m.
Last Modified: Friday, February 19, 2010 at 6:48 p.m.
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The bodies of a mother and her young daughter were found Friday morning in their Sonoma apartment, apparently a murder-suicide, sheriff's officials said.
The identities of the victims were being withheld pending notification of relatives.
Apartment building owner Jerry Marino said the victims were a young mother and her daughter, who was soon to turn 7 years old.
“I assume she took her daughter's life first,” Marino said. “The daughter was asleep on the pillow. The mother was face down on the bed, facing toward the baby.”
Marino and relatives of the woman went to the apartment to check on their welfare after the woman had not been to work in a week and no one was able to reach her by telephone. They had had lived at the apartment building for three years, he said.
The sheriff's department, which is the city of Sonoma's police force, set up a command center on First Street West, just a few blocks from the historic plaza, and spent the day and much of the night at the scene.
The Casa de Sonoma apartment is a 16-unit, white-stucco building on a street that is a mix of rental homes and apartments.
“This is a very peaceful neighborhood, we live across the street in a loft and nothing bad ever happens here,” said Conrad Sanchez. “It's mostly baby boomers here, 50 and 60-year-olds.”
Neighbors described the woman as quiet, a loner and a bit aloof.
The daughter, who was a regular around the kidney-shaped pool, liked to dance and sing, said a resident of the apartment, who did not want to be named.
“I saw them at the mail box and the waste disposal, and the pool,” said another resident, Gary Youngberg. “She was a typical 6-year-old.”
Detective Sgt. Tim Duke said the two may have been dead for a week, and it was not immediately apparent how they died.
“On the first preliminary walk through, it is not obvious to us,” Duke said. “It will take us time to figure it out.”
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