Focus Shifts to 3 Daughters of Slain Woman

VENTURA —  Family members planned for the future of Vicki Shade’s three daughters Sunday as authorities released more details on the circumstances of their mother’s death Friday at the hands of her ex-boyfriend.

An autopsy conducted Sunday showed the 37-year-old hair stylist died of five stab wounds to the chest, according to a spokeswoman with the Ventura County coroner’s office.

A mortally wounded Shade had stumbled from a closet moments after police had rushed the Wolverine Street home where Roland E. Sheehan had kept more than 40 officers at bay for nine hours.

Police also released the names of the two officers who fired the bullets that killed Sheehan, a 43-year-old handyman with a history of drug use and violence. He was shot shortly after he had apparently stabbed Shade.

Sgt. Brian Roberts, 37, and Officer Al Davis, 35, fired 11 shots at Sheehan as he lunged at advancing police officers with a butcher knife after they had entered the home about 4 p.m. Friday.

Both are veterans of Ventura’s SWAT team, Ventura police spokesman Lt. Carl Handy said.

Police said Davis has spent 10 of his 13 years as a Ventura officer with the SWAT team. Handy said Roberts has had a similar tenure. Both are on administrative leave, which is standard department policy in an officer-involved shooting.

Police Chief Richard Thomas was scheduled Sunday to receive a preliminary report into the shooting. That report, Handy said, is designed to learn whether police acted within department guidelines.

Thomas, who is scheduled to retire later this month, did not return repeated phone calls seeking comment.

A final report is due within 10 days of the shooting.

“We try and get these over with real fast,” Handy said. “The community wants to know quickly if there’s a problem or not and people have a right to know.”

Meanwhile, friends, neighbors and acquaintances are rallying to help Shade’s family with donations of toys, clothing and money. Shade’s church, the Ventura County Church of Religious Science, has set up a trust fund on her behalf.

Relatives said Shade’s two adolescent daughters--Wendi, 13, and Kaci, 11--were in remarkably good shape. Both girls were helped by spending time with a counselor Saturday, relatives said.

“They sound great. Vicki was a great mother. She prepared them for life,” Shade’s sister, Kathy Fuentes, said Sunday from her home in Atlanta. “They are taking it very well.”

Wendi was scheduled to sing at a Christmas church program Sunday evening, and she and Kaci plan to attend their mother’s funeral in Florida this week, said Dennette Freudenthal, Shade’s next-door neighbor and day-care provider.

“I just really think it’s not reality to them yet,” she said. “[Sheehan] has not only taken Vicki’s life, but he has ruined three children’s lives.”

Fuentes said she will petition to adopt Shade’s 17-month-old daughter, Michelle, at a hearing Wednesday in Ventura. The 36-year-old homemaker, who plans to travel to California today, said she is confident the court will grant her custody.

“To come with us is what Vicki wants,” Fuentes said. “Just because she doesn’t have a will, this is what she wants and I want.”

A family friend said Michelle, who is now staying with a foster family, has been crying and asking for her mother all weekend.

“She’s been putting her clothes on and saying, ‘Bye-bye,’ ” wanting to return home, the friend said.

There was some speculation a member of Sheehan’s family, possibly his oldest daughter, Melissa Bourdeau, would also be seeking to adopt the infant. But Melissa’s mother, Elaine Bourdeau, said from Rhode Island on Sunday night that the family had made no decision either way.

The Bourdeau family intends to consult an attorney today and then make a decision, Bourdeau said. They have no plans to travel to Ventura for Wednesday’s hearing, she said.

“We’re doing what’s best for the child,” Bourdeau said.

Vicki Shade’s family completed funeral arrangements Sunday. A memorial service will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Church of Religious Science, 101 S. Laurel St. in Ventura.

Shade’s body will then be transported to her hometown of Fort Walton Beach, Fla. The funeral is scheduled for Thursday.