Wife, 72, dies from gunshots

An elderly Costa Mesa woman whose husband allegedly shot her in the head four times has died.

Doris Leake, 72, died Wednesday night at Western Medical Center in Santa Ana, where she had been hospitalized since the Sept. 17 shooting, said Larry Esslinger, Orange County supervisor deputy Coroner.

At the time of the incident, she was expected to survive, despite the number of gunshot wounds to her face. An autopsy to determine the cause of her death was completed Thursday, but the information has yet to be released to the public, Esslinger said.

Kenneth Joseph Leake, the victim’s husband of 50 years, allegedly shot her four times in the head and once in the wrist while she napped in their Costa Mesa home. He used a .32-caliber handgun that he owned, authorities said.

The Orange County district attorney’s office was reviewing the case Thursday to determine whether to press murder charges against Leake, said spokeswoman Farrah Emami.

According to police, a neighbor called 9-1-1 after spotting Leake outside the home, screaming.

Leake also called police to report that he had shot his wife, authorities said. He flagged down police and was taken into custody outside his home in the 2000 block of Orange Street.

On Sept. 18, he was booked into the Orange County jail in Santa Ana, where he remains in custody in lieu of $1-million bail.

Leake, 75, belongs to Mesa Emergency Services Amateur Communications and is a HAM radio operator. He’s facing two felony charges of attempted murder and elderly abuse with sentencing enhancement for the victim being a dependent more than 70 years old. If convicted of those charges, Kenneth Leake faces a maximum sentence of 60 years to life in prison.

Leake is scheduled for a continued arraignment on Oct. 16 at the Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach.